Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Housing on the 4th March, Official Report Volume 655, Column 659, if he will include in the social housing Green Paper proposals for decent home standards for (a) the private rented sector and (b) homes created through permitted development.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
In August 2018, the Government’s Social Housing Green Paper asked whether there are any changes to what constitutes a decent home that Government should consider. The consultation closed in November 2018 and we are currently analysing responses.
In January 2019, Government also commissioned the first stage of a review to assess how well the Housing Health and Safety Rating System works in practice. This review will consider the introduction of minimum standards across all rental tenures.
In the Secretary of State's Written Ministerial Statement of 13 March 2019 (HCWS1408) he announced his intention to review permitted development rights for conversion of buildings to residential use in respect of the quality standard of homes delivered.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment the Government has made of the type of households living in permitted development compared to housing delivered through planning permission.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
National permitted development rights for the change of use to residential are making an important contribution to housing delivery, bringing forward additional homes that may not otherwise have been developed. Nationally over 46,000 homes to rent or buy were delivered under the rights in the three years to March 2018. My department publishes Live tables on housing supply: net additional dwellings which includes information on the homes developed under permitted development rights in each local authority district.
In bringing forward permitted development rights we have recognised that the only additional funding to local planning authorities through planning obligations will be where additional floor space is created and there is a Community Infrastructure Levy charging schedule in place.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate the Government has made of the number of planning officers required to bring planning departments to full capacity.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government recognises that having well-resourced and skilled planning departments is essential for the delivery of our ambitious housing programme. We are working with the Local Government Association and the Royal Town Planning Institute to understand the resourcing and skills needs in council planning departments.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment the Government made of the skills gap in the planning sector.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government recognises that having well-resourced and skilled planning departments is essential for the delivery of our ambitious housing programme. We are working with the Local Government Association and the Royal Town Planning Institute to understand the resourcing and skills needs in council planning departments.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate the Government has made of the number of vacant posts in planning departments in England.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government recognises that having well-resourced and skilled planning departments is essential for the delivery of our ambitious housing programme. We are working with the Local Government Association and the Royal Town Planning Institute to understand the resourcing and skills needs in council planning departments.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to assess the safety of building materials used on houses built with permitted development.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
All homes, whether granted permission through a national permitted development right or on a planning application are required to meet Building Regulations, including fire safety.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to carry out an assessment on the location of homes created under permitted development.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
National permitted development rights for the change of use to residential are making an important contribution to housing delivery, bringing forward additional homes that may not otherwise have been developed. Nationally over 46,000 homes to rent or buy were delivered under the rights in the three years to March 2018. My department publishes Live tables on housing supply: net additional dwellings which includes information on the homes developed under permitted development rights in each local authority district.
In bringing forward permitted development rights we have recognised that the only additional funding to local planning authorities through planning obligations will be where additional floor space is created and there is a Community Infrastructure Levy charging schedule in place.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment the Government has made of the number of local authorities that do not have a five-year land supply in place.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government does not monitor the number of authorities with a five year supply of housing land, as it is a dynamic measure that can change frequently as new permissions are granted and sites are built-out.
The revised National Planning Policy Framework, published in July 2018, allows local planning authorities adopting new plans to ‘fix’ their five year land supply for a period of a year, and subsequently to renew this using annual position statements. This will allow a more transparent and stable assessment of five year supply in those areas that choose to confirm their supply position in this way.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Department has taken since 2017 to make the planning system more transparent.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The revised National Planning Policy Framework, published in July 2018, brought in a number of reforms designed to increase the transparency of the planning system. These include expecting authorities to publish statements of common ground, making clear how strategic issues requiring the co-operation of other authorities are being addressed. The Framework also makes viability assessments publicly available, standardising how information on viability and planning obligations should be published, so that the process and findings are accessible to communities. The Housing Delivery Test, will also show which areas are delivering the homes their communities need.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress the Department has made since 2017 in increasing transparency on who owns land and the options held over it.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
My department is working with HM Land Registry to meet the commitment of registering all publicly-owned land by 2025, with the aim of achieving comprehensive registration in England and Wales by 2030. To assist this process, it has recently published a list of unregistered land believed to be owned by central and local government. The list is available at https://data.gov.uk/dataset/4f5ed3a2-1dbc-41bc-ba1b-bf840e781e08/central-and-local-government-un-registered-land.