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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of removing section 106 planning obligations from sites of fewer than 10 houses on the provision of affordable housing in rural areas.

The Government's public consultation on proposed changes to national policy on section 106 planning obligations agreements closed on 4 May. Interested parties were invited to submit evidence on potential local impacts of the proposed measures both in terms of developer contributions and on increasing the pace and scale of small site development. Over 300 responses were received and the Government is now carefully considering the evidence submitted before announcing the outcomes of the consultation.