Building Homes

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The Shadow Minister asked about Labour's inconsistency in deadlines for updating the National Planning Policy Framework, questioning how they will manage multiple changes to planning policies, and expressed concerns over reduced housing need calculations specifically for London. She also questioned the practicality of implementing these changes without creating years of uncertainty.

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The MP questioned how the new planning rules will impact rural areas, specifically focusing on local authorities being forced to take on housing needs while dealing with reduced school populations and potential grey belt definitions.

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Asked about the importance of brownfield land development and how it fits into the overall strategy.

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Thank you, Mr Speaker. I echo the comments by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government regarding the incident in Southport. We on the Conservative Benches send our deepest condolences to the families impacted. After listening to the right hon. Lady’s statement, I have many questions. I hope that she will provide written answers within a month for the questions she cannot answer today. The Labour party has a mandate but must be clear about their plans and address concerns of councillors and local residents. They need to understand and allocate funding needed for this plan. Why is Labour briefing that NPPF updates will be before the end of the year, which contradicts their own deadline? How will they conduct a meaningful consultation over the summer holidays when there were 2,600 responses in previous consultations? What legal challenges are they prepared for with multiple changes to planning policy? Will these changes create years of uncertainty?

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Welcomed the minister's statement and asked two questions: first, about mandatory housing targets and proper needs assessment for local authorities; secondly, about land value capture to benefit public purse and reduce cost of building homes.

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Asked about local plans needing to start again under the new system, green belt assessments being done again, specific target for social homes, compulsory purchase compensation review, local authorities borrowing to invest and enforce infrastructure requirements, and protection of green belt land.

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Asked about commitment to good-quality, affordable family houses including council houses under proposals.

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Asked when local plan based on local housing need will be required to reopen assessment under new algorithm and when target becomes mandatory.

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Welcomed the review into higher discounts imposed by previous Government under right-to-buy scheme and asked for a rapid review.

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Expressed concern over announcement placing pressure on local services in south-east, where house prices are high.

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Thanked the Secretary of State for her statement, welcoming the acknowledgment that new developments on green-belt land must include necessary facilities. Asked what steps will be taken to ensure local communities can hold developers accountable for habitat protection and open spaces.

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Asked for confirmation that neighbourhood plans will remain supreme and not be overridden by planning inspectors, and whether protected landscapes will retain significant protection.

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Welcomed the statement, acknowledging Milton Keynes' housing struggles and calling for new community development with city council support.

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Inquired about the proposal to remove protections for agricultural land used for food production from the NPPF, despite UK's decreased self-sufficiency in food.

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Congratulated the Deputy Prime Minister, urged collaboration with Labour mayors and councillors to ensure proper development in needed areas.

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Critiqued the policy's top-down approach as divisive, questioned funding availability for required infrastructure.

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Asked how section 106 funding could be reformed to better support infrastructure spending.

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Requested Secretary of State's support for funding the A10-West Winch housing access road in King’s Lynn.

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Expressed support for the Government's plan to address housing affordability and overcrowding in Luton North.

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I welcome the news of a council house revolution, and we all know that the Deputy Prime Minister is a little bit of an expert when it comes to council housing, but can she confirm that priority will be given to British families, veterans and pensioners?

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Residents in Hethersett, Mulbarton and Loddon have sadly had their fingers burnt by the old planning policies that were in place under the previous Government. Can my right hon. Friend give me assurances that section 106 will be strengthened to ensure that public infrastructure will be in place so that our new housing is accessible for everyone and gives them the resources they need to live a very happy life?

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I am no nimby, but what we are seeing today is a lurch back to top-down mandatory targets that will ride roughshod through local communities such as those that I represent across Aldridge-Brownhills, and through local decision making. I do agree with the Deputy Prime Minister, though, when she says that the first port of call must be brownfield land, so will she confirm that she will give full financing to brownfield land remediation and reclamation?

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This has to be the most important statement I have heard since being in the House. York has really suffered from the proliferation of luxury accommodation, second homes and short-term holiday lets, so I very much welcome this statement. Where developers have plans in the system, what steps can be taken to ensure that we pivot to hit the targets for the affordable and social housing that we desperately need right now?

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I strongly endorse the sentiment and purpose of the Secretary of State’s policy statement. She will be aware that, as others have said, the planning system is fuelled by greed, rather than need. Cornwall is not nimby—it is one of the fastest-growing places in the United Kingdom and has almost trebled its housing stock in the last 60 years—yet local people’s housing problems have got worse, so my question to the Secretary of State is this. House building targets are a means to an end, so would it not be far better in places such as Cornwall if those targets were set to address the need, rather than simply allowing developers to fill their boots?

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In my constituency, we are at the sharp end of the housing crisis, and we desperately need more affordable homes and more council homes, so I really welcome today’s statement. The Conservative party may behave like this is a zero-sum game between building more desperately needed homes and protecting the environment, but Labour Members know that that is not the case. What approach will the new Government take to ensure that we have sustainable development, so that we protect our environment, ensure that we have the necessary infrastructure, including sewage pipes, and prevent flooding, while building the homes that my constituents so desperately need?

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It is good to see you in that Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am not sure whether the Secretary of State has discussed her proposals with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs or the National Farmers Union, but the answer she gave on food production was risible. What she has announced today is effectively a recipe for disposing of the land that will be needed to feed our children and grandchildren. Just before she goes ahead with that, will she tell the House how many planning consents that have been granted are sitting there unbuilt-out? Should we not use those first?

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I welcome the twin ambitions the Secretary of State has set out today: to get Britain building in order to provide the homes we need, and to make sure that we have the infrastructure required to support them, such as schools and GP surgeries. Those ambitions are of equal importance, and we cannot have one without the other. On social and affordable housing, will she confirm that the aim of her package is to go net-positive, so that the number of social rent homes rises rather than falls, and to achieve that in the first year of this Parliament?

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I welcome you to the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I welcome the Secretary of State to her new role. I appreciate that she will not have time today to wax lyrical about her vision of aesthetics or to expand at length on the relationship between truth and beauty. Nevertheless, given the welcome reference in her announcement to proportionality and to the link between the existing built environment and the scale of development, will she also take into account the character and style of development? She may know that I have served on the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission and in the Office for Place. Will she agree to meet the Office for Place to discuss beauty?

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I thank the Secretary of State for her statement and for the focus she has rightly put on delivering genuinely affordable homes, which will provide much needed housing security to many of my constituents. Recognising some of the immediate homelessness challenges felt by local authorities, will she detail how the plans she has announced today will relieve pressures that lead to homelessness, and on temporary accommodation?

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Many residents in my constituency find themselves priced out due to unaffordable housing. I welcome the Deputy Prime Minister’s statement on affordable housing, but how many of the 1.5 million homes pledged will be affordable? In particular, how many are expected to be council homes? How do we address one million empty homes?

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The Deputy Prime Minister is aware of the extent to which the planning system fails communities. Will she reassure my constituents that her golden rules will ensure brownfield and greyfield sites are prioritised, and infrastructure and affordability are addressed?

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The Secretary of State approved an appeal by Envar Composting regarding a proposed medical waste incinerator despite local opposition. Given NHS England’s 2023 clinical waste strategy, why approve this against local wishes? Will she meet residents to hear their concerns?

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I welcome the Deputy Prime Minister’s plan to build homes reflecting local views. Will she give an update on plans to tackle second homes, particularly in Cornwall?

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An additional 3,000 homes are being built in Maldon and Heybridge, with more proposed but local infrastructure is under pressure. What will the Secretary of State do to ensure necessary infrastructure precedes development?

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This should be about building communities, not just homes. Residents in my constituency are left on incomplete estates for too long. Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree that both social and physical infrastructure must be delivered early and developers held accountable?

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The Deputy Prime Minister has outlined housing needs but what can be done to help people get mortgages in Northern Ireland, where those earning £40,000-£45,000 have no chance?