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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that suitable brownfield sites are prioritised for development over greenbelt sites under the proposed Housing Delivery Test.

We are still considering responses to the proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, including on the housing delivery test.

The Government has put in place the strongest protections for the Green Belt. The Framework is clear that inappropriate development will not be allowed unless there are very special circumstances, and that Green Belt boundaries should be adjusted only in exceptional circumstances, through the Local Plan process. The Framework also encourages development of brownfield land, and we have undertaken to ensure that 90 per cent of brownfield land suitable for housing will have planning permissions for new homes in place by the end of this Parliament.