Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
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 make (a) heat pumps, (b) solar and (c) other domestic renewables compulsory for all new housing.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Building Regulations are couched in performance terms and do not prescribe the technologies, materials or fuels to be used. This allows 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.
We will need to move away from fossil fuel heating in order to meet our commitment to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The future is likely to see a mix of low carbon technologies used for heating and it is unlikely that there will be a one-size-fits all solution, so multiple technologies will play a role. To make sure that homes built under the Future Buildings Standard are zero carbon ready, from 2025 we intend to set the performance standard at a level which means that new homes will not be built with fossil fuel heating. We expect heat pumps will become the primary heating technology for new homes under the Future Homes Standard and that heat networks will also have an important role to play.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if they will mandate zero carbon heating options in the new Future Homes Standard building regulations and take steps to introduce such new regulations by December 2023.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
From 2025, the Future Homes Standard will ensure that new homes produce at least 75 per cent lower CO2 emissions compared to those built to current standards. This represents a considerable improvement in the energy efficiency standards for new homes. Homes built under the Future Homes Standard will be ‘zero carbon ready’, with low carbon heating and very high fabric standards.
We have listened to calls for a swifter and more certain pathway and our work on a full technical specification for the Future Homes Standard has been accelerated. We therefore intend to consult on this in 2023 and introduce the necessary legislation in 2024, ahead of full implementation of the Future Homes Standard in 2025.
The Building Regulations will continue to set a performance-based standard rather than mandating or banning the use of any technologies. However, to make sure that new homes are zero carbon ready we plan to set the performance standard of the Future Homes Standard at a level which means that new homes will not be built with fossil fuel heating. To ensure the Gas Act is in line with the Future Homes Standard, the Energy White Paper also confirmed that we will seek views on the feasibility of ending the connection of new build homes to the natural gas grid.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals on (a) ensuring contractors are not able to start work on site without evidence of a planning approval notice and (b) seeking consent from all landowners affected by the application to be given before starting work.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Local planning authorities have a range of planning enforcement powers to address unauthorised development, including where development has commenced in breach of appropriate planning permission, for example, before the discharge of pre-commencement conditions. It is the case that the grant of planning permission has no effect on the ownership of the land, and that obtaining planning permission does not automatically mean a development can go ahead. In particular, development cannot proceed without the agreement of the relevant owners.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
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 (a) potential merits of making local authorities economically liable for negligence in the exercise of their building control functions and (b) effectiveness of the exercise by those authorities of those functions.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
As part of our reforms to building safety, we are establishing a new Building Safety Regulator which will provide enhanced oversight of the building safety regulatory system.
Building work is subject to building control either by the local authority or a private approved inspector. It is the responsibility of the building control body to take all reasonable steps to assess compliance. However, building control is a spot checking process at certain points during the building work.
A compliance certificate issued by a local authorities building control team is not an absolute guarantee of compliance and in no way removes the responsibility of compliance from the builder or installer.
If it is considered that the local authority building control team did not carry out its function properly or was negligent in the exercise of its building control functions, a complaint could be made to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), the website for which is https://www.lgo.org.uk/.
The LGSCO is a free and impartial service to the general public, which is independent of the Government. Considering that it investigates complaints about local governments along with other authorities and organisations, it is paramount that its decisions cannot be influenced by the Government. As always, it is also possible to apply to the High Court for a judicial review to challenge an Ombudsman’s decision should it be considered to be legally flawed.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the number of people with mental health problems on social housing waiting lists.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Local authorities are required by law to ensure that ‘reasonable preference’ (ie priority) for social housing is given to those who need to move on medical and welfare grounds, including grounds relating to a disability. Statutory allocations guidance makes clear that this would include a mental illness or disorder.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
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 encourage local authorities to carry out housing needs assessments in villages that have not been allocated housing within local plans, but where there is likely to be a local need for housing.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Local authorities should identify needs throughout their area, which should inform their spatial strategy and housing numbers for areas engaged in neighbourhood planning. Neighbourhood planning groups may wish to collect additional evidence about the nature of the need in their areas, to inform any housing policies that they wish to develop.
Through Neighbourhood Planning we are empowering and supporting local communities to bring forward neighbourhood plans which allocate their own housing sites and have so far committed over £26 million to support these activities.
Where any rural exception sites are proposed by applicants, they should be informed by clear evidence of a local need for affordable homes.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
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 promote housing development in areas where there is an identified local need but no housing allocation in the local plan.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The revised National Planning Policy Framework is clear that all housing need should be provided for. There are multiple tools in the revised Framework that can assist in delivering the homes areas need, including; through allocations in local plans, community led allocations in neighbourhood plans, windfall development and exception sites which target affordable housing need specifically.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities use access to broadband and mobile connectivity as a criterion within their settlement hierarchy assessments.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department does not collect data on how many local authorities use access to broadband and mobile connectivity as a criterion within their settlement hierarchy assessments. Authorities should gather and draw on appropriate evidence to inform the preparation of development plans and the National Planning Policy Framework sets out how planning policies and decisions should support the expansion and delivery of electronic communications networks.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many planning applications have been "called-in" in each of the last five years for which data is available; and how many of those applications included development (a) on or (b) adjacent to an airfield.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The number of planning applications called in for determination by the Secretary of
State in each of the last full five years is set out below.
| Applications called in |
2013 | 12 |
2014 | 16 |
2015 | 24 |
2016 | 15 |
2017 | 19 |
Four involved either an existing airfield or were adjacent to an airfield.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will initiate a cross-government strategy to prevent homelessness.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
People find themselves facing homelessness for many reasons - and it is more than just a housing issue. Relationship breakdown, health and employment can all play a part. What is more, the costs of homelessness are felt across Government, through the criminal justice system, healthcare and the welfare bill.
I have re-established the Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness, to ensure we have a joined up response and a shared sense of mission across Government.
Through this Group, my colleagues and I will ensure that we have a coordinated plan to tackle and prevent homelessness across departmental boundaries.