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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of ensuring community priority for the proposed right to regenerate.

The Government is consulting on a number of reforms as part of its Right to Regenerate proposals, in order to make it easier for people and communities to help shape their local area.

One of the reforms that the Government is consulting on would be to provide a right of first refusal for those who make successful requests, potentially giving a priority to those who have made the effort to research and submit a request, within the existing rules governing best value for public land sales. This would enable local communities to benefit where they identify land in their local area which could be put to better use.

The Government welcomes feedback on ways to make the Right more effective encourage wider use. Following the conclusion of the consultation, the Government will publish its formal response.