Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

New Homes

Monday 22 February 2021 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial focus is on continuing house building throughout the pandemic.
  • Government actions have kept the housing industry operational and the market open.
  • Urban&Civic is praised for masterplanning large sites with green space and community elements.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Mark Pawsey Con
Housing
Context

The question is prompted by the government's focus on house building during and after the pandemic. There are concerns about maintaining housing supply and market stability.

Question

What steps he is taking to increase the supply of new homes, noting that house building has continued throughout the pandemic, with housing starts up 111% in Q3 last year compared to Q1 and completions up 185%, while there has been significant investment in affordable homes through the £7.1 billion national home building fund.

Answer from Robert Jenrick

The first word in 'Build back better' is, of course, 'build', and one of the key priorities for my Department throughout the pandemic has been to ensure that house building continues and the housing market stays open. This Government have gone to great lengths to keep the housing industry open, sustaining hundreds of thousands of people's jobs and livelihoods. House building and the whole ecosystem have continued during the pandemic and have done so safely. In Q3 last year, housing starts were up 111% compared to Q1 and completions were up 185%. Additionally, there has been significant investment in affordable homes through the £7.1 billion national home building fund.

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Q2 Mark Pawsey Con
Housing
Context

The Times reports high levels of interest in new houses with open space, highlighting Urban&Civic's development at Houlton in the constituency where 513 occupations have occurred and another 310 homes are under construction.

Question

I wonder whether the Secretary of State has seen the reports in The Times today showing high levels of interest in new houses with open space. That is certainly the case at Houlton in my constituency, where Urban&Civic master developer of a 6,000-home site has put green space and community at its heart, surpassing its target with 513 occupations in the last three months and another 310 homes currently under construction. Does he agree that provision of high-quality open space should be part of all housing developments? Will he visit Houlton?

Answer from Robert Jenrick

I would be delighted to visit my hon. Friend in Houlton, and I pay tribute to Urban&Civic for carefully masterplanning large sites with trees, public realm, and public spaces. It has been taken over by the Wellcome Trust, which indicates future high-quality sustainable communities. As a personal priority, I have ensured new developments are well-planned through the national model design code and changing laws so that all new streets in this country will be tree-lined.

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