Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that freeholders have equivalent rights to leaseholders to challenge unfair service charges.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for leaseholders and freeholders.
On 21 December 2017, the Government set out a package of measures to tackle abuses and unfair practices in the leasehold market.
This includes bringing forward legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows to ensure that freeholders who pay charges for the maintenance of communal areas and facilities on a private or mixed use estate, can access equivalent rights as leaseholders to challenge the reasonableness of service charges.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the implications of the snap-back clauses in the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations for private individuals who are self-building.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Self builders are able to obtain an exemption from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) if they are building, or have commissioned the building of, a home for their own use. There are necessary and proportionate 'claw-back' provisions to help guard against any 'gaming' of CIL liabilities following the granting of an exemption. These provisions require the self builder benefitting from the exemption to occupy the dwelling as their main home for a minimum of three years, and not to otherwise sell or let the property during that period.
The exemptions process has to fit within the legislative process within which CIL operates. CIL is, by law, a set charge on new development and the regulations incorporate a series of standard trigger points. These are intended to provide consistency, reduce complexity and aid local authorities and developers in administering CIL. The Commencement Notice is one of these trigger points. The Commencement Notice marks the start of the time period which, for most of the available exemptions from CIL, exempted developments need to comply with in terms of the 'claw-back' requirements. Failure to submit a Commencement Notice can result in an exemption being lost.
The Government have announced an ambitious package of reforms to CIL and will be consulting on these in due course.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to offer guidance to self-builders on serving a commencement notice within a timeframe that allows them a waiver from the Community Infrastructure Levy.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Self builders are able to obtain an exemption from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) if they are building, or have commissioned the building of, a home for their own use. There are necessary and proportionate 'claw-back' provisions to help guard against any 'gaming' of CIL liabilities following the granting of an exemption. These provisions require the self builder benefitting from the exemption to occupy the dwelling as their main home for a minimum of three years, and not to otherwise sell or let the property during that period.
The exemptions process has to fit within the legislative process within which CIL operates. CIL is, by law, a set charge on new development and the regulations incorporate a series of standard trigger points. These are intended to provide consistency, reduce complexity and aid local authorities and developers in administering CIL. The Commencement Notice is one of these trigger points. The Commencement Notice marks the start of the time period which, for most of the available exemptions from CIL, exempted developments need to comply with in terms of the 'claw-back' requirements. Failure to submit a Commencement Notice can result in an exemption being lost.
The Government have announced an ambitious package of reforms to CIL and will be consulting on these in due course.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the Government last reviewed its planning practice guidance relating to community infrastructure levy exemptions.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Self builders are able to obtain an exemption from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) if they are building, or have commissioned the building of, a home for their own use. There are necessary and proportionate 'claw-back' provisions to help guard against any 'gaming' of CIL liabilities following the granting of an exemption. These provisions require the self builder benefitting from the exemption to occupy the dwelling as their main home for a minimum of three years, and not to otherwise sell or let the property during that period.
The exemptions process has to fit within the legislative process within which CIL operates. CIL is, by law, a set charge on new development and the regulations incorporate a series of standard trigger points. These are intended to provide consistency, reduce complexity and aid local authorities and developers in administering CIL. The Commencement Notice is one of these trigger points. The Commencement Notice marks the start of the time period which, for most of the available exemptions from CIL, exempted developments need to comply with in terms of the 'claw-back' requirements. Failure to submit a Commencement Notice can result in an exemption being lost.
The Government have announced an ambitious package of reforms to CIL and will be consulting on these in due course.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether it is compulsory for local authorities to offer residents a choice of how they wish to receive communications.
Answered by Marcus Jones
It is not compulsory for local authorities to offer residents such a choice. The Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity provides a series of principles which they should have regard to. Ultimately, it is up to local authorities how they make best use of communications channels to ensure residents are appropriately informed.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department takes to balance protection of the countryside with putting community interests at the centre of Government house-building policy.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The Government’s objectives for planning are set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. The Framework includes rigorous protection for designated land such as Green Belt and requires planning policies to enhance biodiversity at a landscape scale. It asks local authorities, in balancing all the relevant issues, to recognise the character and beauty of the countryside, to encourage re-use of brownfield land if not of high environmental value, and to take account of the benefits of the best and most versatile farmland. The supporting Guidance also reminds local authorities that, in planning to meet local housing and other needs, they must have due regard to national policies - such as Green Belt policy - which indicate that development should be restricted and which may restrain the ability of an authority to meet its need. We intend to introduce a simpler and more transparent method for assessing the housing needs of each community next year, along with other reforms.
However, it will still be for local authorities in consultation with local people to plan their areas using the Local Plan, and then to decide planning applications in line with that Plan and all other relevant factors. It is for local residents to make their hopes, concerns and evidence known to the local authority and (if appropriate) the planning inspector examining a revised Plan or determining an appeal.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will introduce measures to prioritise all brownfield sites for development in (a) Kent and (b) England.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The redevelopment of brownfield land, if not of high environmental value, is already strongly encouraged in our National Planning Policy Framework. The Framework also asks local authorities to consider including policies in their Local Plans to support the reuse of brownfield land. However, each brownfield site is different, and local authorities need to consider whether the land is available, viable and suitable to build on, taking into account the specific features of each site.
Government has introduced a number of measures to increase the uptake of brownfield land, including accelerating disposal of public sector brownfield sites for housing, extending permitted development to give new life to thousands of under-used buildings, reforming the Community Infrastructure Levy arrangements to incentivise building reuse, and launching the £3 billion Home Building Fund to help unblock more brownfield land for new homes. Each local authority is also required to publish an easy-to-access local Brownfield Register by the end of 2017. This will enable house builders, custom builders and investors to identify sites suitable for new homes.
Our Housing White Paper consultation included proposals for further increasing housing on suitable brownfield land. We will publish our conclusions and propose any revisions to the Framework as soon as possible in 2018.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will introduce measures to ensure that developers meet existing commitments before further public land is released to those developers.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The Government is clear that where sites have planning permission they should move ahead as quickly as possible. The most important step is for developers and authorities to work closely together, at a local level, to ensure that, once planning permission is granted, building on those sites is taken forward as quickly as possible.
The Public Land for Housing Programmes was designed to specifically address the shortage of land for housing and we want to ensure that homes are built on that land. We are now monitoring the progress of sites sold through both the 2011-15 and 2015-20 Public Land for Housing Programmes, in order to estimate the number of homes under construction and completed.
At Autumn Budget, the Government announced that a review panel will be set up, chaired by Sir Oliver Letwin MP. This review will explain the significant gap between housing completions and the amount of land allocated or permissioned and make recommendations for closing the gap. The Review will provide an interim report in time for Spring Statement 2018 and a final report at Budget 2018.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of adequacy and timeliness of Sevenoaks District Council's new Housing Strategy.
Answered by Lord Sharma
We have not made any assessment of Sevenoaks District Council's housing strategy. There is no specific requirement for my Department to assess the housing strategy of each Local Authority, however, the Secretary of State appoints the Planning Inspectorate to independently assess each Local Plan to ensure it is sound prior to their adoption.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to ensure that developers build properties based on community need and make use of brownfield sites.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Our consultation Planning for the right homes in the right places, which closed on 9 November 2017, proposed a new, transparent and consistent method for calculating each community’s housing need.
The redevelopment of brownfield land, if not of high environmental value, is strongly encouraged in our National Planning Policy Framework. To support this policy, the Government has accelerated disposal of public sector brownfield for housing; extended permitted development to give new life to under-used buildings; reformed Community Infrastructure Levy arrangements to incentivise building re-use; and launched the £3 billion Home Building Fund which will help to make more brownfield available for new homes. Moreover, each local authority is required to publish, by the end of December, an easy-to-access local Brownfield Register. This will bring many more sites suitable for new homes to the attention of house-builders and custom builders. Our earlier consultation on the Housing White Paper included further proposals for increasing housing on suitable brownfield land.
We are carefully studying the response to both these consultations, and will announce our conclusions as soon as possible in 2018.