Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the Government is taking to address local housing projections which are based on out-of-date numbers.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Existing Government policy is to help make home ownership affordable for more people and to help more people rent their own home. To do that, we will need to deliver more homes. The standard method for assessing local housing need is used by councils to inform the preparation of their local plans and, as part of the local plan process, Councils are responsible for determining the best approach to development in their areas, including taking into consideration important matters such as Green Belt.
The previous Government undertook a review of the standard method formula in 2020 and, after carefully considering consultation responses, they retained the existing formula providing stability and certainty for planning and for local communities. As with all policies, we are monitoring the standard method, particularly as the impact of changes to the way we live and work and levelling up become clear.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the Government's policy is on the calculation of new housing targets in local authorities which are predominately made up of Green Belt land.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Existing Government policy is to help make home ownership affordable for more people and to help more people rent their own home. To do that, we will need to deliver more homes. The standard method for assessing local housing need is used by councils to inform the preparation of their local plans and, as part of the local plan process, Councils are responsible for determining the best approach to development in their areas, including taking into consideration important matters such as Green Belt.
The previous Government undertook a review of the standard method formula in 2020 and, after carefully considering consultation responses, they retained the existing formula providing stability and certainty for planning and for local communities. As with all policies, we are monitoring the standard method, particularly as the impact of changes to the way we live and work and levelling up become clear.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he will take steps to protect the Green Belt in the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
This Government has a manifesto commitment to protect and enhance the Green Belt. Our National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that a local authority should not propose to alter a Green Belt boundary unless there are exceptional circumstances and it can show at examination of the Local Plan that it has explored every other reasonable option: including using brownfield land or optimising the density of development. Within Green Belt, most types of new building are questioned and should be refused planning permission unless there are very special circumstances, as determined by the local authority. These strong protections for Green Belt land are to remain firmly in place.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Government will take steps to prevent overdevelopment of Green Belt land in its future planning reforms.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
This Government has a manifesto commitment to protect and enhance the Green Belt. Our National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that a local authority should not propose to alter a Green Belt boundary unless there are exceptional circumstances and it can show at examination of the Local Plan that it has explored every other reasonable option: including using brownfield land or optimising the density of development. Within Green Belt, most types of new building are questioned and should be refused planning permission unless there are very special circumstances, as determined by the local authority. These strong protections for Green Belt land are to remain firmly in place.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to review the performance of local authorities on meeting local housing need.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires that Councils identify and update annually a supply of specific 'deliverable' sites sufficient to provide a minimum of five years' worth of housing against their housing requirement. This is more commonly known as a 5-year housing land supply. Additionally, the Housing Delivery Test identifies the areas where homes are or are not being delivered against housing need.
Where the supply and delivery of housing is not meeting local need, the presumption in favour of sustainable development applies. This means additional housing allocations and approvals should be granted by a local authority unless planning constraints provide a strong reason against this when assessed against the NPPF as a whole - examples of this include Green Belt or flood risk.
Asked by: Bim Afolami (Conservative - Hitchin and Harpenden)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that any development which requires land to be taken out of greenbelt proposed in local plans (a) is necessary to meet local housing need and (b) has the support of local communities.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government attaches great importance to Green Belts. Once established, Green Belt boundaries should only be altered where exceptional circumstances are fully evidenced and justified, through the preparation or updating of plans. Before concluding that exceptional circumstances exist to justify changes to Green Belt boundaries, the relevant authority should be able to demonstrate that it has examined fully all other reasonable options for meeting its identified need for development. Local plans should be shaped by early, proportionate and effective engagement between plan makers and communities.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring urban brownfield land to be converted into new greenfield land in circumstances where local construction takes place on green belt land.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
This Government is committed to making the most of brownfield land in line with our policies in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which sets out that planning policies and decisions should give substantial weight to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements. Redeveloping brownfield sites in urban areas makes best use of existing services and infrastructure, promotes sustainable forms of transport and helps remediate contaminated sites. It is right we should make the most of such sites to minimise the need for development of greenfield land and the countryside.
Government attaches great importance to Green Belt and local planning policies and decisions should enhance and protect Green Belt land. Most Green Belt is rural greenfield land, often containing valuable biodiversity, good farming soils, and attractive landscape. In Green Belt as elsewhere, the NPPF expects local authorities to recognise the importance of the natural environment and the character and beauty of the countryside, and to improve access for sport and recreation. If a local authority cannot avoid loss of Green Belt, it is expected to offset the loss of that land by environmental and access improvements in areas remaining Green Belt.
The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill sets out planning measures that will support regeneration by enabling more effective use of land, improving land value capture and supporting infrastructure delivery. Reforms, including clarification on the use of compulsory purchase, will make it easier to assemble brownfield land ready for development, whilst locally led Development Corporations will have planning powers to support regeneration, including provision of new green space and other green infrastructure.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his Department's policy is on the extent to which local planning authorities should take into account local objections when considering applications to build on green belt land, in the context of site SGA26 in Mid Derbyshire.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I regret that, due to the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in the planning system, I am unable to comment on the details of a specific Local Plan, including proposed sites.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if the Government will make it its policy to make it mandatory for a planning inspector to visit any site that is being proposed for removal from the green belt as part of a local development plan.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Paragraph 140 of the National Planning Policy Framework states that 'once established, Green Belt boundaries should only be altered where exceptional circumstances are fully evidenced and justified, through the preparation or updating of plans'
All local plans must be submitted for independent examination by an inspector. Where a local authority is proposing to amend Green Belt boundaries, it is for the inspector to decide if exceptional circumstances have been adequately demonstrated, and ultimately, whether the local plan is 'sound' and can be adopted.
Government policy on local plan examination site visits is set out in paragraph 3.23 of 'Procedure Guide for Local Plan Examinations’. It states that: 'The Inspector will decide which sites and locations they need to visit in order to assess the soundness of the plan and may also undertake a familiarisation tour of the area. Site visits may take place at any time during the examination'.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to urgently introduce statutory protections to protect green belt and greenfield sites from speculative developments before wider planning reforms are introduced in the Levelling Up Bill.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The increased weight given to plans and national policy in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill will give more assurance that areas of environmental importance - such as National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and areas at high risk of flooding - will be respected in decisions on planning applications and appeals. The same is true of the Green Belt, which will continue to be safeguarded.
The National Planning Policy Framework already sets out strong protections for Green Belt land, and also expects local authorities to recognise and enhance the importance of biodiversity, valued landscapes and agricultural soils, and the character and beauty of the countryside. Local authorities should give priority to re-use of suitable brownfield land wherever practicable and sustainable.
These protections in national planning policy are to remain firmly in place, and by 2023 will be further reinforced by the biodiversity net gain requirements introduced through the Environment Act 2021. We will pursue options to make the Green Belt even greener.