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

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to align the definition of brownfield land for the purposes of the Building Safety Levy to the definition in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Works on previously developed sites will be charged at the 50% discount rate for the Building Safety Levy. This has been put in place to account for the higher costs of developing a previously developed/ brownfield site.

As set out in our response to the technical consultation, we have implemented a definition of “Previously Developed Sites” in the Building Safety Levy regulations, which draws on the definition of “Previously Developed Land” set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Appropriate amendments have been made to reflect that the NPPF definition is primarily designed to inform planning policy whereas the Building Safety Levy definition is used in regulations to apply a tax discount.

We are considering whether the approach in regulations could be more closely aligned with the NPPF, while maintaining the level of precision required for a taxation system.