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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he has taken to end the use of segregated entrances for residents with different tenures in developments.

We have provided guidance to local planning authorities which asks them to take this issue into account when preparing their local plans and taking decisions on planning applications. The National Design Guide advises that housing should be designed to be tenure neutral and socially inclusive, avoiding features that could create actual or perceived barriers, or contribute to segregation, and that there should be no differentiation in the positions of entrances. The National Model Design Code gives advice to local authorities on how to prepare their own design codes which set standards for the design of new development. This clarifies that design codes can help by requiring that the same shared entrances and facilities are available for all tenants within a building.