Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what consideration the Government is giving to the delivery of place quality in its national housebuilding strategy.

The Housing White Paper sets out a number of measures to strengthen national planning policy on design. These measures include:

• Planning reform to strengthen policy requirements for good design in the National Planning Policy Framework and in Local Plans.

• Supporting wider use of Neighbourhood Planning.

• Providing additional funding to authorities to help them plan for growth and improve design.

• Working with Homes England to set quality criteria for funded housing programmes.

• Highlighting examples of good practice in housing design through support for awards.

• Highlighting best practice for community engagement, including the use of digital platforms to visualise designs.

I also launched a government commitment to raising design quality at a recent Design Quality Symposium hosted by the RIBA, attended by members of the housing industry, local authorities, professional bodies, academics and other government departments.

In a Written Ministerial Statement on 4 December, I set out provisions to support design skills, capacity and capability through the Planning Delivery Fund. This £25 million fund will help to support a step change in design quality of new development, as well as design advice and support to local authorities delivering growth.

The Planning Delivery Fund prospectus is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/planning-delivery-fund-prospectus