Housing: Construction

(asked on 2nd July 2014) - View Source

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.


Answered by
 Portrait
Nick Boles
This question was answered on 14th July 2014

[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.

Reticulating Splines