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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what incentives are available to local authorities to build council housing on (a) brownfield and (b) greenfield sites.

The Housing White Paper reflects our ambition to support local authorities in building more affordable homes. My officials are working with local authorities to understand all the options for increasing the supply of affordable housing, considering innovative ideas and bespoke deals with local authorities to support delivery.

We have made £7.1 billion available through the Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme 2016-2021. Local authorities can bid for this to fund a range of schemes. Local authorities can also work with the Homes and Communities Agency to access the Starter Homes Land Fund, to prepare brownfield sites that will include a high proportion of starter homes and other affordable homeownership tenures. We have also provided £32 million of Estates Regeneration grant funding, to assist with the early stages of regeneration schemes that offer the potential to deliver new homes.

Planning policy already makes it clear that local authorities should plan to meet the market and affordable housing needs in their area, insofar as possible. In doing so we expect them to work with their local communities to decide how much housing is necessary, of what type and where it should go.