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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to prevent developments stalling, and (2) to ensure obligations to build are met in a timely manner, in their changes to planning rules.

New homes should be built out as soon as possible once planning permission is granted. We are clear that where sites are stalled or experiencing delays to delivery, it is for local authorities and developers to work closely together at a local level to overcome these barriers.

To support build out through planning, we propose to make it clear in the revised National Planning Policy Framework that the masterplans and design codes for sites prepared for substantial development should seek to include a variety of development types by different builders which allow more phases to come forward together.

We will be exploring further options to support faster build out as part of our proposed planning reforms as outlined in the Planning White Paper.