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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to A connected society: A Strategy for tackling loneliness – laying the foundations for change, published 15 October 2018, what progress has been made on his Department’s commitment to work with external stakeholders such as the UK Cohousing Network to build a database of case studies of innovative housing developments that promote social cohesion.

My Department has showcased several case studies of good design, which promote social cohesion. There was an exhibition of some of these case studies during the Government’s Better Design for Better Places national conference; which was held this February in Birmingham.

My Department continue to work with a range of external stakeholders to gather case study examples on how to promote social cohesion through housing design and planning.

The Government also continue to support awards for housing design, in which projects that demonstrate promotion of social cohesion are celebrated, such as the new Good Neighbour Award which I presented on 11th July.