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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her (a) housing and (b) planning policy is on encouraging councils to turn (i) empty and (ii) redundant office space into residential accommodation.

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that substantial weight should be given to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements, including the development of under-utilised land and buildings to meet the need for homes and other uses.

As part of our recent consultation on proposed reforms to the Framework, we set out proposals to broaden the existing definition of brownfield land, set a strengthened expectation that applications on brownfield land will be approved, and make clear that plans should promote an uplift in density in urban areas.

On 22 September we published a ‘brownfield passport’ policy paper inviting views on how we might further prioritise and fast-track building on previously used urban land.