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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the role is of housing needs assessments within local plans.

Our planning guidance is clear that a Strategic Housing Market Assessment is just the first stage in developing a Local Plan and councils can take account of constraints which indicate that development should be restricted. I wrote to the Chief Executive of the Planning Inspectorate on 19 December to ensure our policy is clearly understood. A copy of the letter can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/strategic-housing-market-assessments and I attach a copy to this answer.