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 16 January 2021 press release entitled Right to Regenerate to turn derelict buildings into homes and community assets, what definition his Department plans to use of public and local communities to determine who can request the sale of underused land owned by public bodies in England.

The Government believes that people and communities know how best to make use of local land. The proposals set out in the Right to Regenerate consultation would make it easier to challenge councils and other public organisations to release land for redevelopment – helping communities make better use of public land and give a new lease of life to unloved buildings.

Under the current rules, anyone can challenge public bodies to release underused land. Where they are making a request on behalf of a community group, company or other organisation, the applicant is also asked to provide this information. We will consider the views of respondents in relation to this, as with any other views they may have.