Asked by: Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether all 75 towns that have been chosen to receive £20 million of funding through the Long-term Plan for Towns, including Harlow, will receive the full amount; and if so, when.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government has inherited an extremely difficult fiscal environment and has a responsibility to fix the foundations of our economy, to ensure economic stability.
The department will set out further details on next steps and confirmation of the revised timelines in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that planning regulation does not hinder the effective implementation of the 5G mobile signal.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In 2022, the government made changes to planning regulations to provide mobile operators with the flexibility to upgrade existing sites in England for 5G delivery, enhance coverage and meet the growing demands for network capacity. The reforms were designed to reduce the time, cost and uncertainty involved in upgrading mobile network infrastructure and to encourage greater use and sharing of existing infrastructure. The UK Government is committed to supporting investment in high-quality, reliable digital connectivity so that communities can benefit from faster economic growth and greater social inclusion. Permitted development rights for telecommunications infrastructure have been developed to ensure planning supports this mission. This government has committed to further reforms to the planning system including making it easier to build digital infrastructure.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what changes, if any, they are considering to the 'right to buy' discount scheme for tenants wishing to purchase their council house.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government believe it is right that those social tenants who have lived in their homes for many years retain the right to purchase their property at a reasonable discount. As such, we will not be ending the Right to Buy scheme.
We are, however, committed to better protecting our existing stock of social rented homes and are currently reviewing the increased right to buy discounts introduced in 2012. We will bring forward secondary legislation to implement changes in the Autumn.
We also intend to review Right to Buy more widely, including looking at eligibility criteria and protections for newly-built social housing. A consultation of these wider changes will be brought forward in the Autumn.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to discuss with Peterborough City Council and other stakeholders, including Homes England, the development of legacy allocated land for residential development at Great Kyne (Castor and Ailsworth) in Peterborough to meet the housing delivery targets in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and the East of England.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Homes England is promoting land north east of Castor and Ailsworth in the emerging Peterborough Local Plan Review, with the ambition to create a modern, sustainable community with high-quality homes, jobs, and facilities. The Local Plan Review is at an early stage and Homes England will be responding to consultations in line with the Council’s Local Development Scheme and engaging with all stakeholders throughout the process.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact modern methods of construction could have on achieving their housebuilding targets early.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Modern methods of construction (MMC) provides an important opportunity to improve productivity in the construction sector, and quickly deliver high quality, energy efficient, homes whilst creating new and diverse jobs in the sector.
We will reflect on views from across the sector to establish how best to increase the use of MMC and will set out more details on this in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role modern methods of construction might play in speeding up the delivery of housing.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Modern methods of construction (MMC) provides an important opportunity to improve productivity in the construction sector, and quickly deliver high quality, energy efficient, homes whilst creating new and diverse jobs in the sector.
We will reflect on views from across the sector to establish how best to increase the use of MMC and will set out more details on this in due course.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of construction skills shortages on the current rates of house building and infrastructure development.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
To meet the Government’s commitment to deliver 1.5 million homes over this Parliament, alongside net zero and housing quality objectives, we will need to expand and upskill the construction workforce. We are working with the construction industry to ensure we have the workforce necessary to meet our housebuilding ambitions through the delivery of sufficient high-quality training opportunities which will build a diverse workforce that is fit for the future.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their housing policy on existing labour supply challenges in the construction sector.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
To meet the Government’s commitment to deliver 1.5 million homes over this Parliament, alongside net zero and housing quality objectives, we will need to expand and upskill the construction workforce. We are working with the construction industry to ensure we have the workforce necessary to meet our housebuilding ambitions through the delivery of sufficient high-quality training opportunities which will build a diverse workforce that is fit for the future.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to financially support the modern methods of construction sector as part of their housebuilding programme.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Modern methods of construction (MMC) provides an important opportunity to improve productivity in the construction sector, and quickly deliver high quality, energy efficient, homes whilst creating new and diverse jobs in the sector.
We will reflect on views from across the sector to establish how best to increase the use of MMC and will set out more details on this in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage developers to use brownfield sites; and whether they plan to give tax breaks to developers of this land to reflect the added costs of making the land fit to be built on.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We have been clear that development must look to brownfield first, prioritising previously used land wherever possible. To support this, we propose a set of targeted changes in our consultation on reforms to the NPPF, published 30 July. These changes include an expanded definition of previously developed land, and changes to make clear that the default answer to brownfield development should be ‘yes’.
National planning policy also expects local councils to support efforts to identify and bring back into residential use empty homes and other suitable buildings.