Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the likely effect the UK leaving the EU will have on the number of new houses needed in future years; and what guidance he has provided to councils on reviewing their housing targets in response to the outcome of the EU referendum.
Answered by Lord Barwell
My department has been keeping developments in the housing market under review since the UK voted to leave the EU. However, it is too early to make a full assessment of the impact on housing need.
This Government is clear that building more homes is central to our vision of a country that works for everyone. Our ambition is to deliver a million more homes by 2020, and we will set out further measures helping us towards our ambitions in a Housing White Paper.
Our guidance issued to local planning authorities makes it clear that the household projections produced by the department should be the starting point for calculating housing need. These projections are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-household-projections. The Office for National Statistics population projections on which these are based already assume a significant decline in net migration: a fall of 45% by 2021 from the level in mid 2015.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will issue guidance on whether local authorities with significant student populations in their areas should identify the student population separately for the purpose of calculating the full objectively assessed need for housing in their areas in preparation of Local Plans and in estimating the five-year supply of land for housing.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The National Planning Policy Framework asks local authorities to assess their full housing needs and identify the scale and mix of housing and the range of tenures that the local population is likely to need over the plan period. Our planning guidance sets out a clear methodology for assessing development needs for housing and is clear that local authorities should plan for sufficient student accommodation in their area, including through engaging with universities and other higher educational establishments. It is for local authorities to establish a robust housing evidence base to justify their proposed approach.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will clarify in his planning policy guidance that (a) students aged over 18 years in higher education in any local authority area with significant higher education establishments should be regarded as transient and not permanent residents and (b) particular care in identifying the objectively assessed need for housing should be taken not to count such students as in-migrants who remain resident in the area, but rather as a special element of the population which continually replaces itself.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The National Planning Policy Framework asks local authorities to assess their full housing needs and identify the scale and mix of housing and the range of tenures that the local population is likely to need over the plan period. Our planning guidance sets out a clear methodology for assessing development needs for housing and is clear that local authorities should plan for sufficient student accommodation in their area, including through engaging with universities and other higher educational establishments. It is for local authorities to establish a robust housing evidence base to justify their proposed approach.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will amend national planning policies so that development of land designated as Green Belt will be resisted until the implications of the UK exiting the EU, and its effect on population and household projections, have been fully assessed and new projections issued for the use of local planning authorities.
Answered by Lord Barwell
In line with our manifesto commitment, the government is committed to strong protection of Green Belt land. Local authorities are responsible for designating Green Belt land, as explained in our National Planning Policy Framework. Only in exceptional circumstances may a local authority alter a Green Belt boundary. Applications for most types of development within the Green Belt are inappropriate and should be refused permission except in very special circumstances. Latest figures for 2015-16 show Green Belt continuing to cover around 13 per cent of England.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in relation to the sub-national population and household projections, if he will review with the Office of National Statistics, the methods of recording and counting of students as an element of the population in local authority areas having significant student populations.
Answered by Marcus Jones
DCLG uses the Office of National Statistics (ONS) population projections to produce the household projections. Students are not counted as a separate population in the ONS mid-year population estimates or the ONS population projections. The ONS maintains responsibility for how these statistics are produced, and DCLG have no plans to review the methods used to produce these statistics.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many emergency traveller sites there are in England; and how many of those sites are operational.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Department for Communities and Local Government does not collect or publish data on emergency traveller sites.