Asked by: Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the compatibility of the expansion in permitted development rights with the integrity of the locally led planning system.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Permitted development rights for change of use to residential are making an important contribution to housing delivery, largely providing windfall housing that may otherwise not have been delivered through the planning system. The rights make effective use of existing buildings and help boost housing density, as part of our broader housing ambitions, without the need to build on greenfield sites.
In response to concerns raised in respect of the quality of some of the homes delivered through permitted development rights we now require adequate natural light to be provided in habitable rooms. The independent research informing our review has been published and is available at the following (attached) link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/quality-standard-of-homes-delivered-through-change-of-use-permitted-development-rights
Asked by: Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of their First Homes policy for the locally led planning system in respect of addressing local housing needs.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government is committed to making the dream of home ownership a reality for everyone. Affordability is the biggest barrier to home ownership, and while this is partly due to a shortage of housing supply, low interest rates and high rents have limited the ability for young people to save the deposit they need to buy a home. We believe that First Homes are a key means of helping local people, especially young first-time buyers, into home ownership and maintaining strong communities.
It is for local authorities to determine how and where to best deliver their housing needs, and as we set out in our consultation on First Homes, which ran between February and May this year, we are supportive of empowering local decision-makers and conscious of reducing discretion to respond to local circumstances. Our response to this consultation, which will be published in due course, will provide further detail on this.
Asked by: Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on affordable housing provision of permitted development rules on the conversion of buildings into homes; and what plans they have to review these rules in response to any emerging evidence indicating a detrimental impact on affordable housing.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Permitted development rights for change of use to residential are making an important contribution to housing delivery, largely providing windfall housing that may otherwise not have been delivered through the planning system. The rights make effective use of existing buildings and help boost housing density, as part of our broader housing ambitions, without the need to build on greenfield sites.
In response to concerns raised in respect of the quality of some of the homes delivered through permitted development rights we now require adequate natural light to be provided in habitable rooms. The independent research informing our review has been published and is available at the following (attached) link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/quality-standard-of-homes-delivered-through-change-of-use-permitted-development-rights
Asked by: Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the quality of homes resulting from permitted development rights to convert offices to residential use.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Permitted development rights for change of use to residential are making an important contribution to housing delivery, largely providing windfall housing that may otherwise not have been delivered through the planning system. The rights make effective use of existing buildings and help boost housing density, as part of our broader housing ambitions, without the need to build on greenfield sites.
In response to concerns raised in respect of the quality of some of the homes delivered through permitted development rights we now require adequate natural light to be provided in habitable rooms. The independent research informing our review has been published and is available at the following (attached) link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/quality-standard-of-homes-delivered-through-change-of-use-permitted-development-rights
Asked by: Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when their review of permitted development rights for the conversion of buildings to residential use in respect of the quality standard of homes delivered will be published.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Permitted development rights for change of use to residential are making an important contribution to housing delivery, largely providing windfall housing that may otherwise not have been delivered through the planning system. The rights make effective use of existing buildings and help boost housing density, as part of our broader housing ambitions, without the need to build on greenfield sites.
In response to concerns raised in respect of the quality of some of the homes delivered through permitted development rights we now require adequate natural light to be provided in habitable rooms. The independent research informing our review has been published and is available at the following (attached) link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/quality-standard-of-homes-delivered-through-change-of-use-permitted-development-rights
Asked by: Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether work has been postponed on (1) plans to introduce 100 per cent business rate retention, and (2) the Fair Funding Review; and what steps they are taking to progress reforms to local government finance.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
In April the government announced that it would not be implementing the Review of Relative Needs and Resources and the planned increase to the rate of business rates retention in 2021-22. This decision was taken to allow councils to focus on meeting the immediate public health challenges posed by the pandemic. As the local government finance system moves into a more stable position, we will engage with our partners in local government on a suitable timetable for continuing consultation and subsequently implementing a reform package.
Asked by: Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Greenhalgh on 8 June (HL Deb, col 1542), whether they are considering any further measures to take planning powers from local councils such as the creation of development corporations.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government has already set out an ambitious programme to modernise our planning system. Our 'Planning for the Future' reforms will support the delivery of homes that local people need and create greener communities with more beautiful homes. Further details will be published in due course.
The Government is also going to examine and develop the case for up to four new development corporations in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, subject to public consultation, as well as explore options for regeneration around Toton, including the potential for delivery vehicles such as development corporations.
Asked by: Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many homes were built for social rent in England (1) in each of the last five years for which figures are available, and (2) in 2010.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The number of social rent completions for 2009-10 and each of the last five years for which there are available data, including new build, can be found in the table below:
| 2009-10 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 |
Social Rent, of which: | 33,491 | 9,331 | 6,798 | 5,895 | 6,679 | 6,287 |
New Build | 30,396 | 8,464 | 6,066 | 5,296 | 5,597 | 5,320 |
Acquisitions | 2,786 | 867 | 684 | 596 | 1,058 | 956 |
Not Known | 309 | 0 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 11 |
This information, broken down by tenure and whether the units are new build and acquisitions, is published in Live Table 1009 which can be found (attached) here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply
Asked by: Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they make any distinction between (1) social housing, and (2) affordable housing, when collating statistics on the number of homes built exclusively for rental.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Yes, the department makes this distinction. Information on affordable housing by tenure is publicly available, including for social rent and affordable rent, for both starts on site and completions.
This information can be found (attached) here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply
Asked by: Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the scale of the loss of income incurred by local authorities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; and what steps they intend to take to assist local authorities financially.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The department has engaged closely with councils from across the country, and across different tiers, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Allocations of the additional £1.6 billion support for councils to respond to COVID-19 were announced on Tuesday 28 April. This is a significant package of support which responds to the range of pressures councils have told us they are facing, and takes the total amount provided to local councils to over £3.2 billion.