Asked by: Jack Lopresti (Conservative - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much land (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies owns in (i) England and (ii) the South West; and how much of that land has been identified as being surplus to requirements.
Answered by Jake Berry
The UK Government is a significant landowner. The current Government Estate Strategy sets out the Government's vision to create an efficient, fit-for-purpose and sustainable estate whose performance matches the best of the private sector. As a Government we are delivering this vision, ensuring that the estate is fit for purpose, is frequently reviewed and aligned to the Estate Strategy, and is managed in an efficient and effective way.
The current landholdings of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government are shown in the table below. This does not include land previously identified as surplus that has now been disposed. The information is correct at time of publication.
Land in hectares | England | South West |
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | 1.01 | 0.00 |
QE2 Conference Centre | 0.37 | 0.00 |
Homes England | 7,341.54 | 252.94 |
Total | 7,342.92 | 252.94 |
Of the total land the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government holds in England, 281 hectares is currently available, out of which 2.06 hectares are in the South West. These figures include agencies and non-departmental public bodies.
The role of Homes England is to trade in land to facilitate delivery of new homes. Most of the land listed in the table above will therefore be made available in due course. Homes England publishes a Land Development and Disposal Plan, which lists the sites that are likely to be available for development and/or disposal over a 12 month period: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/land-development-and-disposal-plan
Asked by: Jack Lopresti (Conservative - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
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 30 January 2018 to Question 124559, on Planning Permission, if the he will take steps to (a) produce a register of all land in England and Wales owned by development companies which has neither building work ongoing nor planning permission granted nor approved, (b) make that register public and (c) provide the House with regular updates as to his Department's progress in reducing the amount of land on that register; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Dominic Raab
We have no such plans at present.
Local authorities are already required to publish registers of brownfield land suitable for housing. The registers include information relating to the ownership and planning status of land on the register. Local authorities are also required to publish planning registers containing details of all planning applications which are under consideration or which have been agreed.
In the Autumn Budget 2017, the Government also announced it will develop a central register of residential planning permissions from local authorities to improve information on where permissions are held and progress towards them being built out.
The Government's Housing white Paper sets out a wide ranging approach to driving up build out of planning permissions. In addition, the Autumn Budget 2017 included the announcement of a review of build-out chaired by Rt Hon Oliver Letwin MP. The review will consider the significant gap between housing completions, and the amount of planning permissions and land allocated for housing. The review panel will make recommendations for closing this gap, and will report on its findings in 2018.
Asked by: Jack Lopresti (Conservative - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the area of land (a) nationally and (b) within the South West which is owned by building firms and has (i) no pending planning applications and (ii) had planning permission granted but upon which no building has commenced.
Answered by Dominic Raab
No such estimates have been made.
Asked by: Jack Lopresti (Conservative - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he makes of the adequacy of the number of transit pitches made available to Travellers in (a) England and (b) South Gloucestershire.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The Government has made no such estimates. It is the responsibility of local authorities to assess all local housing needs through their local plan.