Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) sites and (b) homes where building is yet to start which have full planning permission.
[Holding Reply: Monday 7 July 2014]
In my answers to the rt. hon. Member of 10 December 2013, Official Report, Column 158W and 16 January 2014, Official Report, Column 611W, I outlined the myths being propagated on land-banking and observed how these were disproved by hard, empirical evidence from experts. I also noted the inaccurate claims being punted around by HM Opposition, remarked how their policy proposals would actually reduce house building; and explained the steps that the Coalition Government has taken to help kick-start stalled sites, from development finance, to Section 106 reform, to increasing the incentive for developers to start on site before permission expires.
The latest figures from Glenigan estimate that the number of dwellings with planning permission that are classified as “on hold or shelved” has steadily fallen thanks to the action we are taking. Conversely, the number of dwellings with planning permission that are moving towards a start has steadily increased, both due to the action we have taken to tackle stalled sites, but also due to the increase in the number of homes being granted planning permission. Indeed, a total of 216,000 permissions were given for new homes in 2013-14.
A rising number of homes progressing towards a start is a positive indicator of increasing housing construction. The Leader of the Opposition, the rt. hon. Member for Doncaster North, on 15 January 2014, Official Report, Column 846, incorrectly described them as “houses where nothing is happening”. This is incorrect description of the Glenigan statistics and reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of rising planning approvals. It is the ‘on hold/shelved' indicator where nothing is happening.
The table below illustrates our progress:
Snapshot as of | On hold/shelved | Progressing towards start |
31/01/2011 | 79,604 | 113,566 |
31/07/2011 | 82,557 | 153,379 |
30/09/2011 | 90,331 | 153,543 |
31/12/2011 | 87,081 | 132,633 |
31/03/2012 | 81,502 | 136,686 |
30/06/2012 | 75,534 | 141,044 |
30/09/2012 | 70,495 | 166,105 |
31/01/2013 | 64,394 | 176,246 |
02/04/2013 | 61,476 | 184,987 |
02/06/2013 | 60,493 | 189,882 |
01/10/2013 | 59,249 | 183,650 |
01/01/2014 | 55,847 | 202,912 |
01/02/2014 | 54,086 | 194,681 |
01/03/2014 | 53,376 | 203,098 |
01/04/2014 | 51,284 | 197,288 |
01/06/2014 | 50,050 | 226,328 |
Note: dwellings on sites with 10 units or more; excludes sites which have been sold, were due to be sold, or else information not available.
Taken together, these two indicators show that the Government's long-term economic plan is working and turning around the mess and recession left by the Labour Government. Moth-balled sites are springing into action; more homes are being planned; and more homes are being built out.
Of course, there is more to do – and the measures in the Infrastructure Bill on planning conditions will further cut the time it takes for sites with planning permission to start on site. We also have a series of schemes to increase development finance to both small and large builders, to boost local authority capacity to unlocked stalled sites, and (as outlined in the answer of 7 July 2014, Official Report, Column 117W) to support ongoing housing starts.