Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the number of houses on brownfield land rejected for planning permission since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department publishes the number of planning applications for dwellings granted and refused per quarter by local authority in the PS2 open data file in our quarterly planning application statistics release. It can be found on gov.uk here. The number of applications on brownfield land is not collected.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the number of homes on brownfield land granted planning permission since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department publishes the number of planning applications for dwellings granted and refused per quarter by local authority in the PS2 open data file in our quarterly planning application statistics release. It can be found on gov.uk here. The number of applications on brownfield land is not collected.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of requiring the disclosure of the true beneficiary of a planning application to enhance public scrutiny.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Planning permissions relate to plots of land and so the identity of the applicant and the ownership of land are not normally material considerations in planning decisions. Disclosure of the true beneficiary of a planning permission would therefore not affect the outcome of a planning decision.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what consideration his Department has given to allowing interested third parties to seek a review of administrative planning conditions.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Conditions on planning applications can be challenged by the applicant through appeal, but not by a third party.
Third parties can make representations on planning applications during the consultation stage and through engagement with the local planning authority.
In making a decision on a planning application, the local planning authority must have considered all the representations made and must take into account those views.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 56831 on Planning Permission, and to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question HL8773, on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, if he will (a) list and (b) publish each of the post-inquiry representations that have been made since the ending of the Planning Inspectorate’s public inquiry.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Post-inquiry representations are routinely listed at the end of the final decision letter and are available on request once the decision letter has issued.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that communities are consulted on planning applications in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East, and (e) England.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
After a local planning authority in England has received a planning application, it must undertake a period of consultation where views on the proposed development can be expressed. The formal consultation period must last for at least 21 days, and the local planning authority will identify and consult groups including a full public consultation with neighbouring residents, community groups and statutory consultees.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 23 October (HL Deb col 945), whether the potential security threat posed by the proposed location of the Chinese Embassy is a material planning consideration; and whether the information used to assess that security threat will be published in full when the planning decision is made.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The full reasons for the decision will be set out in the final decision letter. All inquiry documents for this case are publicly available on Tower Hamlets website here . Post-inquiry representations will be listed in the decision letter and will be available on request.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with relevant stakeholders following the closure of the consultation on Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department engages regularly with a range of stakeholders about our ongoing reforms to the planning system, including proposals to increase build out rates.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister has had recent discussions with the Chinese government on the planning application for the Chinese Embassy in London.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The decision to call in the planning application for the proposed Chinese Embassy was made by the former Deputy Prime Minister, in line with current policy on call-in. This decision is subject to a quasi-judicial process and independent from the rest of government.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled Communities to seize control over high streets and restore pride, published on 24 September 2025, what changes his Department plans to make to (a) use classes, (b) planning policy and (c) planning practice guidance to implement the power to block unwanted shops; what types of shop will it apply to; and what his Department's definition is of unwanted.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Through Pride in Place we will rejuvenate high streets and tackle unwanted shops by giving local communities greater control to influence their high streets. We have announced a suite of tools including a Community Right to Buy for communities to take ownership of local buildings they value and streamlining the compulsory purchase process to help local authorities regenerate high streets.
Where units are vacant for a long time, councils can hold a High Street Rental Auction to ensure they are occupied and can choose whether to exclude certain uses to curate more diverse high streets. We will refresh the best practice guidance for councils’ powers under section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which will better enable councils to deal with street frontages in disrepair.
And by the end of the year, we will consult on a new set of planning reforms that make the system clearer, more rules-based, and easier to navigate - this includes ways to strengthen the long-term vitality and viability of town centres.