Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure developers contribute financially to environmental and biodiversity improvements in the districts in which they are building.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Planning for the Future White Paper sets out our intention to bring forward a quicker and simpler framework for assessing environmental implications which encourages opportunities for environmental enhancements to be identified and pursued early in the development process. The Environment Bill includes measures to make biodiversity net gain mandatory, requiring developers to ensure habitats for wildlife are enhanced.
Contributions from developers play an important role in delivering the infrastructure that new homes, and local economies, require. Local authorities can currently obtain these contributions by charging a Community Infrastructure Levy on new development, and by negotiating section 106 planning obligations with a developer. In 2018/19, local authorities negotiated over £150 million towards open space and the environment through section 106 planning obligations. The Planning for the Future White Paper proposes to reform the current approach to developer contributions by creating a new, single system, the Infrastructure Levy, which local authorities will be able to use towards open space and environment. The consultation on Planning for the Future closed on 29 October 2020, and we will be responding formally.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing local authorities in seriously water-stressed areas scope to prioritise water supply constraints over housebuilding when considering their own local housebuilding targets above and beyond those mandated by national government.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government does not set housing targets, our standard method is only the starting point for determining need. Local authorities should already be considering water supply when planning for housing; a key part of preparing local plans is ensuring that development is supported by necessary infrastructure. Co-ordination with infrastructure providers and other statutory consultees is crucial to this process.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
What steps he is taking to increase the supply of new homes.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
This Government cares deeply about building more homes. We are working tirelessly with industry to keep the sector open safely through every level of restriction to continue building the new homes this country needs, support home movers, and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs. I would like to pay tribute to the sector for their support.
We are investing in supply, with over £12 billion in affordable housing over five years, the largest investment in a decade; and £7.1 billion in the National Home Building Fund, including much-needed new homes on brownfield land.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 2.129 of the Budget 2020 Red Book, what progress has been made on the development of a further new town in South Cambridgeshire.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The new town being proposed in South West Cambridgeshire is a private initiative being promoted by the developers Thakeham, and is a matter for the local planning authority. The Government has no plans for an additional new town in this location or elsewhere in South Cambridgeshire beyond the commitment we announced in 2020 to explore opportunities at Cambourne and the sustainable and sensitive expansion of Cambridge. Government has not yet made any decision to take forward opportunities at Cambourne or Cambridge as part of this work and any potential future plans would be subject to all necessary and appropriate public consultation.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, in relation to the property developer Thakeham's proposal for a new town in South West Cambridgeshire, whether (a) Ministers or (b) officials in his Department have held a (i) meeting or (ii) discussions with the developer; whether his Department has engaged with Thakeham’s proposal for a new town in South West Cambridgeshire; and whether the responsibility for a planning decision on Thakeham’s proposal for a new town in South West Cambridgeshire would rest solely on South Cambridgeshire District Council.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
There have been no Ministerial discussions and no involvement related to this proposal at any stage and Ministers have not had any contact with the developer. Following the announcement of the proposed new town, one MHCLG official has since attended a meeting between the developer and Homes England as an observer. There has been no engagement between the Department and the developer. Should an application for planning permission come forward it will be dealt with in the usual way.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential for proposals in Planning for the Future White Paper, published on 6 August 2020 to tackle the issue of developers obtaining planning permission but not proceeding to build within a reasonable timeframe.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
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.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Planning for the Future White Paper, published on 6 August 2020 will take account of the limitations set by the availability of natural resources such as water in the allocation of growth zones.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The National Planning Policy Framework and its accompanying planning practice guidance expects local planning authorities to plan for the development and co-ordination of the infrastructure required in their area, including infrastructure for water. They should work with providers, such as water companies, to assess the quality and capacity of infrastructure and its ability to meet forecast demands. The water companies are already statutory consultees on local plan development and can be consulted on a non-statutory basis for individual planning applications.
In addition, the Building Regulations already provide a water use standard and a lower optional standard for water stressed areas, which a local planning authority can impose for new homes as a condition of planning permission. DEFRA led a consultation on measures to reduce personal water use in 2019, which included this standard. A formal government response will be published by the end of 2020.
The Planning for the Future White Paper includes proposals to ensure that all local development plans are assessed against a sustainable development test to ensure there is the right balance between environmental, economic and social objectives. Plans should be informed by appropriate infrastructure planning, and sites should not be included in the plan where there is no reasonable prospect of any infrastructure that may be needed coming forward within the plan period. Plan-making policies in the National Planning Policy Framework will make this clear.