Lord Jamieson

The requested statistics are not held.

The Government is committed to building 1.5m homes over the next parliament. To meet our target will require record levels of housebuilding. That is why we are making changes to planning rules that will unblock the system and ensure the homes we need get built. The consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system that began on Tuesday 30 July includes proposals designed to support increased build out rates and promote mixed-tenure schemes that meet the housing needs of local people. In conjunction with the start of that consultation, the housebuilding industry made a public commitment to increase the pace at which homes are delivered and to get on and build where sites are viable and have implementable consent. The Government has also taken swift action to unblock stalled sites through the creation of New Homes Accelerator Task Force.

We are clear that transport infrastructure is crucial in enabling sustainable development and that necessary transport infrastructure should be delivered through developer contributions.

However, the current approach to transport planning is dated and for that reason, we set out proposals for a ‘vision-led’ approach in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation published on 30^th July.

It remains the case that development should only be prevented or refused on highways grounds if there would be an unacceptable impact on highway safety, or the residual cumulative impacts on the road network would be severe.

Our consultation on national planning policy delivers on our manifesto commitment to reversing the changes made to the NPPF in December 2023 that were detrimental to housing supply. These changes are an essential part of meeting our commitment to building 1.5m new homes. Alongside this, we have set out clear plans for improving the operation of the presumption and for boosting the capacity of LA planners.