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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons preventing local authorities from adopting (a) roads and (b) communal areas in new build developments.

Local planning authorities already have powers to issue a completion notice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which requires a developer to complete their development if it is left uncompleted. If they fail to do so, the planning permission for the development will no longer be valid.

As part of their responsibilities local authorities should consider how to mitigate risks around infrastructure delivery, including looking at the timing of infrastructure completion on site and considering whether it is appropriate to require developers to set aside bonds which can be used to complete infrastructure should the developer be unable to do so.

The government is determined to end the injustice of 'fleecehold' and we have committed to consult this year on options to reduce the prevalence of private estate management arrangements, which are the root cause of the problems experienced by many residential freeholders. I refer the hon. Member to my Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS2440) I made on 21 November last year for further details.