Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to (a) review and (b) strengthen the provisions of the Localism Act 2011 relating to the community right to bid; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on (i) long-term vacant commercial properties and (ii) support for communities seeking to preserve assets of community value.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
As part of the English Devolution Bill, the government has committed to legislate for a strong new ‘right to buy’ for valued community assets, replacing the current ‘right to bid’ that was introduced in the Localism Act 2011. This will give real power to local people to preserve a wide range of assets that are important to them and help to end the blight of empty properties on our high street. We are currently finalising the policy and will announce more details, including its impact, in due course.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what percentage of the new 1,500,000 homes will be (a) social housing and (b) affordable housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has not set an affordable housing target to date, but we are committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.
At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549).
The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes.
We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent.
The government has also announced the £450m third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund, followed by an uplift of £50m, enabling councils to grow their housing stock.
We also confirmed a range of new flexibilities for councils and housing associations, both within the Affordable Homes Programme and in relation to how councils can use their Right to Buy receipts. Having reduced Right to Buy discounts to their pre-2012 regional levels, we have allowed councils to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales.
The government recognise that Registered Providers need support to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply. Between 30 October 2024 and 23 December 2024, the government consulted on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement, to give Registered Providers the certainty they need to invest in new social and affordable housing.
The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 includes a number of changes that make the planning system more supportive of affordable housing, in particular Social Rent homes. These include new Golden Rules for development on the Green Belt. Prior to development plan policies for affordable housing being updated in accordance with the revised NPPF, the affordable housing contribution required to satisfy the ‘Golden Rules’ is 15 percentage points above the highest existing affordable housing requirement that would otherwise apply to the development, subject to a cap of 50%. We estimate that under this model, the median Green Belt local planning authority affordable housing requirement will be 50%.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to make provision for grampian conditions to apply to any housing development planning applications where Ofwat has opened enforcement cases on the delayed delivery of environmental improvement schemes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department is working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to ensure necessary water infrastructure is in place to support the housing the country needs.
If there are firm infrastructure plans in place, our planning practice guidance is clear that local planning authorities can grant planning permission with Grampian conditions linked to those plans to help developers bring forward the development.
Strategic planning for water infrastructure is being considered as part of the independent commission on the water sector regulatory system, as announced by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 23 October 2024.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take through the National Planning Policy Framework to ensure the adequate provision of M4(2) and M4(3) compliant housing in Henley and Thame constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 requires local planning authorities to assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those of older and disabled people, and to reflect this in planning policies.
Where an identified need exists, plans are expected to help bring forward an adequate supply of accessible housing, which can include setting out the proportion of new housing that will be delivered to M4(2) and M4(3) standards.
The government will shortly set out its policies on accessible new build housing, reinforcing our commitment to ensuring everyone has access to a safe, suitable home.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the efficacy of the dry weather flow data for determining impact on waste water treatment works of increased housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that strategic policies should set out an overall strategy for the pattern, scale and design quality of places and make sufficient provision for infrastructure for transport, telecommunications, security, waste management, water supply, wastewater, flood risk and coastal change management, and the provision of minerals and energy (including heat).
Dry weather flow (DWF) at wastewater treatment works is the amount of wastewater (sewage) entering the works without any contribution from rainfall or snowmelt.
It is used to calculate the polluting load entering the works and to set environmental permits to protect the environment. DWF is measured using calibrated and independently certified and inspected flow meters 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Water companies must track flows entering the works in line with permit requirements and use this information to plan for growth.
Water companies must prepare, publish and maintain a Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan (DWMP, also called a Drainage and Sewerage Management Plan) setting out the actions they intend to take to secure wastewater service provision, now and into the future. These plans identify the current and future investment need to ensure sufficient capacity enables their assets continue to meet DWF permit compliance, and to address the pressures of growth and climate change. The next statutory DWMPs are expected to be published in 2027/8.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to make water companies statutory consultees in all planning applications.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510).
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2024 to Question 14870 on National Landscapes and with reference to section 245 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, for what reason that Answer states that local authorities should have regard to rather than seek to further the purposes of national landscapes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer, as corrected, given to Question UIN 14870 on 26 November 2024.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing protections for (a) the Chilterns national landscape and (b) other national landscapes under the national planning policy framework.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to ensuring that our most important and cherished landscapes are appropriately protected so they can be enjoyed by future generations.
Planning policy is clear that planning policies and decisions should recognise the character and beauty of the countryside, and local authorities are expected to protect heritage assets which can include landscape and setting of listed buildings.
Only local authorities, national park authorities, or the Planning Inspectorate (acting on behalf of the Secretary of State), can give permission for development in, or affecting, a National Landscape (previously known as AONB). Relevant authorities must make sure that any proposals seek to further the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the National Landscape.
The National Planning Policy Framework states that great weight should be given to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in National Landscapes, and that the scale and extent of any development in these areas should be limited.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to include retirement property leaseholders as a separate category in planned leasehold and commonhold reform.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Over the course of this Parliament, the Government will honour its manifesto commitment to finally bring the feudal leasehold system to an end.
We will enact remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to enfranchisement and the Right to Manage, tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, reinvigorate commonhold through a comprehensive new legal framework, and ban the sale of new leasehold flats so commonhold becomes the default tenure.
We have made clear that we intend to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny. We will announce further details in due course.
The Government intends to act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. As part of the King’s Speech, we committed to consulting on the best way of restricting the sale of new leasehold flats. This consultation will provide an opportunity for interested stakeholders to make their views known.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will include greater protection of the Oxford Green Belt in the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has no plans to include in the National Planning Policy Framework additional protections for Oxford Green Belt beyond those that apply to all green belts in England.