Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to carry out an assessment on the location of homes created under permitted development.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
National permitted development rights for the change of use to residential are making an important contribution to housing delivery, bringing forward additional homes that may not otherwise have been developed. Nationally over 46,000 homes to rent or buy were delivered under the rights in the three years to March 2018. My department publishes Live tables on housing supply: net additional dwellings which includes information on the homes developed under permitted development rights in each local authority district.
In bringing forward permitted development rights we have recognised that the only additional funding to local planning authorities through planning obligations will be where additional floor space is created and there is a Community Infrastructure Levy charging schedule in place.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment the Government has made of the number of local authorities that do not have a five-year land supply in place.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government does not monitor the number of authorities with a five year supply of housing land, as it is a dynamic measure that can change frequently as new permissions are granted and sites are built-out.
The revised National Planning Policy Framework, published in July 2018, allows local planning authorities adopting new plans to ‘fix’ their five year land supply for a period of a year, and subsequently to renew this using annual position statements. This will allow a more transparent and stable assessment of five year supply in those areas that choose to confirm their supply position in this way.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Department has taken since 2017 to make the planning system more transparent.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The revised National Planning Policy Framework, published in July 2018, brought in a number of reforms designed to increase the transparency of the planning system. These include expecting authorities to publish statements of common ground, making clear how strategic issues requiring the co-operation of other authorities are being addressed. The Framework also makes viability assessments publicly available, standardising how information on viability and planning obligations should be published, so that the process and findings are accessible to communities. The Housing Delivery Test, will also show which areas are delivering the homes their communities need.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress the Department has made since 2017 in increasing transparency on who owns land and the options held over it.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
My department is working with HM Land Registry to meet the commitment of registering all publicly-owned land by 2025, with the aim of achieving comprehensive registration in England and Wales by 2030. To assist this process, it has recently published a list of unregistered land believed to be owned by central and local government. The list is available at https://data.gov.uk/dataset/4f5ed3a2-1dbc-41bc-ba1b-bf840e781e08/central-and-local-government-un-registered-land.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to carry out analysis into why local plans are being delayed.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
In 2015 the Government commissioned the Local Plans Expert Group to consider how local plan making could be made more efficient and effective. Their recommendations were reflected in the revised National Planning Policy Framework that was published in July 2018.
The Government wants to see all authorities produce up to date local plan policies that set a positive vision for the future of their area and has provided flexibility in the revised National Planning Policy Framework for how this is put in place.
In November 2017, the formal process of intervention commenced in fifteen areas that had failed to get a local plan in place for a more than a decade. We monitor plan progress to identify delays against authorities’ published timetables, and identify where additional support may be beneficial, as well as where intervention may be necessary as a last resort.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to set a deadline for local authorities to have a local plan.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
In 2015 the Government commissioned the Local Plans Expert Group to consider how local plan making could be made more efficient and effective. Their recommendations were reflected in the revised National Planning Policy Framework that was published in July 2018.
The Government wants to see all authorities produce up to date local plan policies that set a positive vision for the future of their area and has provided flexibility in the revised National Planning Policy Framework for how this is put in place.
In November 2017, the formal process of intervention commenced in fifteen areas that had failed to get a local plan in place for a more than a decade. We monitor plan progress to identify delays against authorities’ published timetables, and identify where additional support may be beneficial, as well as where intervention may be necessary as a last resort.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate the Government has made of the amount of Section 106 funding lost from local communities when new homes are created under permitted development rather than through granted planning permission.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
National permitted development rights for the change of use to residential are making an important contribution to housing delivery, bringing forward additional homes that may not otherwise have been developed. Nationally over 46,000 homes to rent or buy were delivered under the rights in the three years to March 2018. My department publishes Live tables on housing supply: net additional dwellings which includes information on the homes developed under permitted development rights in each local authority district.
In bringing forward permitted development rights we have recognised that the only additional funding to local planning authorities through planning obligations will be where additional floor space is created and there is a Community Infrastructure Levy charging schedule in place.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate the Government has made of the number of affordable homes lost to local communities under permitted development.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
National permitted development rights for the change of use to residential are making an important contribution to housing delivery, bringing forward additional homes that may not otherwise have been developed. Nationally over 46,000 homes to rent or buy were delivered under the rights in the three years to March 2018. My department publishes Live tables on housing supply: net additional dwellings which includes information on the homes developed under permitted development rights in each local authority district.
In bringing forward permitted development rights we have recognised that the only additional funding to local planning authorities through planning obligations will be where additional floor space is created and there is a Community Infrastructure Levy charging schedule in place.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that local authorities have a local plan in place.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
In 2015 the Government commissioned the Local Plans Expert Group to consider how local plan making could be made more efficient and effective. Their recommendations were reflected in the revised National Planning Policy Framework that was published in July 2018.
The Government wants to see all authorities produce up to date local plan policies that set a positive vision for the future of their area and has provided flexibility in the revised National Planning Policy Framework for how this is put in place.
In November 2017, the formal process of intervention commenced in fifteen areas that had failed to get a local plan in place for a more than a decade. We monitor plan progress to identify delays against authorities’ published timetables, and identify where additional support may be beneficial, as well as where intervention may be necessary as a last resort.
Asked by: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made since 2017 in reviewing space standards of new homes.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government will be considering the Nationally Described Space Standard as part of its programme to review planning practice guidance and building regulations guidance.