Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the potential effect of the planned increases in landfill duty on housebuilding.

The government carefully considered the impact of reforms to landfill tax on rates of housebuilding and took account of the feedback received to the consultation carried out last year.

As a result, the government set out a plan to prevent the gap between the two rates of landfill tax expanding over the coming years, ensuring that housebuilders will not face significant new costs.

In addition, we are retaining the tax exemption for backfilling quarries to ensure that housebuilders continue to have access to a low-cost alternative to landfill.