Derelict Land: Planning

(asked on 16th June 2021) - View Source

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 support a brownfield first policy in planning.


Answered by
Christopher Pincher Portrait
Christopher Pincher
This question was answered on 24th June 2021

The National Planning Policy Framework expects local authorities to make the most of brownfield land for development. Local authorities are best placed to assess potential sites, and each authority now publishes a register of brownfield suitable for new homes. We have introduced Permission in Principle, an extra route to planning permission for land on these registers, giving certainty from the outset that the principles of a redevelopment scheme are acceptable.

This Government is putting significant investment into brownfield redevelopment through the £4.1 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund, the £4.95 billion Home Building Fund, and the £400 million Brownfield Housing Fund. Local authorities not eligible for support from the latter have been able to bid for assistance from the Brownfield Land Release Fund. This is designed to unlock brownfield sites and release serviced plots on local authority owned land. There is tax relief on work to decontaminate land, and we have reformed permitted development and Use Class rules so yet more homes can be created on previously developed land.

I am delighted that the University of Wolverhampton is the location of the National Brownfield Institute, which I was pleased to visit and which received support from our Getting Building Fund. This new policy institute will inform and guide brownfield regeneration, carry out research and testing, and give specialist advice on contaminated land, re-purposing sites, and innovative construction such as modular homes.

Reticulating Splines