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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the housing stock built in the next five years will be better than the housing stock built in the last five years.

In 2019 the Government convened the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission and its report on improving the design quality of new homes was published in January 2020. We will be publishing a Planning White Paper, setting out measures to support beautiful design, meet the challenges of climate change and ensure this country can build the homes it needs.

We will legislate to address the recommendations from Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety and work with residents, building owners and others to ensure people are safe in their homes.

We will also legislate to require developers to belong to the New Homes Ombudsman and follow a Code of Practice to improve standards of build and service quality.