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.

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.