Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local authorities prioritise the development of brown field sites over green belt and green field sites.

The National Planning Policy Framework expects local authorities to prioritise brownfield land for development wherever possible. Local authorities are best placed to assess the potential of individual sites, and each authority is required to publish a register of its developable brownfield suitable for new homes.

Brownfield redevelopment is supported by funding including the £4.1 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund, the £400 million Brownfield Fund, and the Home Building Fund, which had a £450 million funding boost last year taking the total to £4.95 billion. In addition, details of the new Brownfield Land Release Fund, which will unlock brownfield sites and release serviced plots on local authority owned land, will be announced shortly.

Consultation on the White Paper Planning for the Future closed on 29 October 2020. My Department is undertaking further detailed policy development on individual elements of the reform proposals. However, we have made clear that local authorities would still have responsibility for protecting the Green Belt and other valued greenfield land.