Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether local authorities are permitted to deregister green belt land to make sites available for development; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
This Government is firmly committed to protecting and enhancing the Green Belt, in line with our manifesto. There are strong protections for the Green Belt in place. Through national planning policy, local authorities may not alter the boundaries of Green Belt land unless in exceptional circumstances, which must take place through the local plan process. A local authority should consider releasing land from Green Belt only if it can fully evidence that it has explored all other reasonable options for meeting its development needs. This includes using suitable brownfield land for development.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to issue guidance or other forms of support to local authorities to help them facilitate events to mark the Queen's Platinum jubilee.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
A national programme of events and celebrations is being planned around the momentous occasion of Her Majesty the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. This will include a weekend of national street parties and the lighting of beacons across the whole of the United Kingdom. MHLCG has previously supported local celebrations for VE/VJ day and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and we are currently producing guidance for local authorities on how they may choose to mark the occasion which will include timelines, a variety of suggested activities, and a 'how to' guide on preparing for street parties and other public events.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to implement the Government's policy of requiring solar panels on the roof of every new house.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government remains committed to meeting its target of net zero emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the energy efficiency of buildings has to make in meeting it. We must ensure that the energy efficiency standards we set through the Building Regulations for new homes put us on track to meet the 2050 target. From 2021, new homes will be expected to produce 31% less CO2 emissions compared to current standards, and from 2025, the Future Homes Standard (FHS) will ensure that new homes produce at least 75% lower CO2 emissions compared to those built to current standards. Homes built under the FHS will be ‘zero carbon ready’, which means that in the longer term, no further retrofit work for energy efficiency will be necessary to enable them to become zero-carbon homes as the electricity grid continues to decarbonise.
The Building Regulations set minimum energy performance standards for new homes and non-domestic buildings. They are couched in performance terms and do not prescribe the technologies, materials or fuels to be used, allowing builders and homeowners the flexibility to innovate and select the most practical and cost-effective solutions appropriate in any development. For example, many roofs are not suitable for solar photovoltaic (PV) panels because of the visual amenity, strength, or direction of the building.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to implement the Government's policy of requiring an electric car charging point at every new home.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
I refer my Rt Hon Friend to the answer I gave to PQ UIN 157016 on 1 March 2021
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether it is his policy to require local authorities to release green belt land for housing in the event that is the only developable land available to them.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The National Planning Policy Framework maintains a high level of protection for the Green Belt, and states that local authorities should propose to alter Green Belt boundaries only where they can demonstrate that there are exceptional circumstances and that they have examined all other reasonable options for meeting their identified development needs. They are expected to show that they have been using their brownfield and under-used land; optimising density; and exploring opportunities in neighbouring authority areas under the duty to cooperate. In examining local plans, a planning inspector will look for evidenced justification of any proposed change to a Green Belt, to check that all reasonable alternatives have been considered.
In line with our manifesto commitment, the reform proposals in Planning for the Future, currently out for consultation, do not affect the Framework’s strong protections for Green Belt land.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the housing need for each local authority is when calculated through the standard method.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
To get enough?homes built in the places where people and communities need them,?a crucial first step is to plan for the right number of homes.??To support our overall aspirations, and to?target more homes into areas where they are least affordable, we are proposing to revise the number of homes authorities should plan for.
We have not published an authority by authority list of numbers generated by the formula. The formula uses variable?data?and it is down to local planning authorities to calculate their local housing need.
Paragraph 23-39 of the Changes to the current planning system consultation explains step-by-step the proposed calculation for the updated standard method.???
Lower household projections do not mean that fewer homes are needed?– in some cases they reflect existing under-supply, where lack of provision stops new households from forming.
Not all homes that are planned for are?built, so our proposed formula includes a buffer to account for the drop off rate between permissions and completions. This?gives the best opportunity to?deliver against our aspirations while also ensuring that the market offers?a good?choice of homes.??
The affordability adjustment used in the proposed standard method is based on the median house price to workplace-based earnings ratio, published annually by the Office for National Statistics.
The house price to workplace-based earnings ratio compares the median salary earnt in a local authority against the median house price in that same authority area. This ratio is used as people typically choose to live close to where they work – and therefore is a proxy for demand within the housing market.
Earnings data is taken from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) Release, which provides data on the levels, distribution and make-up of earnings and hours worked by UK employees. This data does not cover the self-employed.
The proposals were out for consultation until 1 October 2020. Following consideration of the consultation responses received, the Government will publish a response in due course. The response will set out any decisions and any associated proposed implementation.