Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to prevent developers from leaving (a) play areas, (b) green spaces and (c) other shared communal spaces unfinished or to a substandard level.

Local planning authorities (LPAs) already have a wide range of enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance, which they can use in instances where development has not taken place in accordance with the relevant planning consent.

These enforcement powers include the power to issue a completion notice which requires a developer to complete their development if it is left uncompleted.

It is for LPAs themselves to decide how and when they use their powers depending on the circumstances of each case.

On 25 May, the government published a Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out (which can be found on gov.uk here) inviting views on further action the government should take to speed up homes being built.

On the same day, we launched a technical consultation on implementing measures to improve the transparency of build rates from new residential development, which includes proposals to implement provisions in Section 113 of the LURA on the power to decline to determine applications. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here. Subject to the outcome of the consultation, the government intends bring forward the regulations to implement these measures at the earliest practical opportunity with the new build out reporting framework coming into force from 2026.