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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the number of bungalows required to meet the health needs of wheelchair users and people with disabilities in East Durham.

Local authorities are best placed to understand the housing needs in their area. National policy sets out clearly the need for local planning authorities to plan for the housing needs of all members of the community and it is for Durham County Council to work closely with key partners and local communities in deciding what type of housing is needed to meet local need, including bungalows.

We have published a data sheet setting out information and statistics on older and disabled peoples’ needs to act as a starting point for local authorities wishing to develop suitable policies.

Our Housing White Paper sets out two ways in which the planning system will be used to deliver more suitable homes for people with disabilities:

• We are proposing to strengthen the National Planning Policy Framework so that local planning authorities are expected to have clear policies for addressing the housing requirements of groups with particular needs, such as disabled people; and

• The Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 introduced a new statutory duty on the Secretary of State to produce guidance for local planning authorities on how their local development documents should meet the housing needs of older and disabled people.