Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to close legal loopholes that allow housing developers to avoid meeting quotas on affordable housing.

In March, the Government published a draft revised National Planning Policy Framework for consultation which sets out a new approach to viability. Our proposals place greater focus on viability assessments at the plan making rather than planning application stage, ensuring that local plans set clearer policy requirements for affordable housing. The proposed changes will also enable communities to hold developers to account by setting an expectation that all viability assessments should be publicly available.