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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the definition of a brownfield site to include areas with large numbers of void properties.

Void properties already fall within the definition of brownfield within the planning system in England. Brownfield is defined in the National Planning Policy Framework as ‘previously developed land’, and can have any number of buildings on it, whether empty or occupied. It is for each authority to decide whether a particular site in its area is brownfield, and what new-build development, if any, should be permitted there.