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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps will he take to ensure local people in York are consulted as part of the process of deciding the types of housing tenure that will apply to the houses planned for the York Central development.

I hope the Honourable Member for York Central will appreciate that as this is a live planning matter I cannot comment on the specifics of the case due to my quasi-judicial role in the planning system.

What I can say is that local planning authorities should use their local plans to set out the expected level of tenure mix for housing developments in their area, which underlines the importance of having an up to date plan which reflects local aspirations – and I am encouraged by the progress the council in the Honourable Member’s constituency has made recently in this regard.

We are clear that communities must be at the heart of the planning process and that is why our Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill we will introduce reforms to make the plan-making process simpler and faster for communities to engage with. We will also increase and enhance the opportunities for involvement in the planning system to ensure that development is brought forward in a way that works best for local people.