Green Belt: Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has taken to protect the green belt from housing developments. 

Mrs Heather Wheeler: In our National Planning Policy Framework, reissued in February 2019, we ask local authorities to protect their Green Belts, making clear that most types of new buildings are inappropriate there, and should be refused planning permission. The revised Framework now also states that a local authority can propose to alter a Green Belt boundary only in exceptional circumstances and only if it can show that it has examined all other reasonable options for meeting its identified development needs.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2019-07-19/279438

Social Housing More Popular With Public Than Private Homes

Just 17% of people would be happy for a housing development to be built within half a mile of their home, new research has revealed. A YouGov survey shows the public are more against new developments in their neighbourhoods than in favour, despite the need to build 250,000 homes each year to solve the housing crisis. However, 38% of people asked would be happy to have extra social housing within half a mile of their homes – with only 22% unhappy at the prospect. Read more on the Huffington Post website.

Communities With Neighbourhood Plans Can Block Development

Communities with a Neighbourhood Plan will be able to block housing developments even if their local council does not have an up-to-date five-year housing land supply, the housing minister has announced. In a written statement this week, Gavin Barwell said communities with a Neighbourhood Plan are “often frustrated” that their plan is “undermined” when a local council does not have an up-to-date five-year housing land supply. Under current planning rules permission should be granted for housing developments, even if they conflict with a council’s Local Plan, if the council does not have an up-to-date five-year housing land supply. Permission should only be rejected if the negatives of a development significantly outweigh the positives. Read the full statement on the Parliament website.

Housing: Construction – Parliamentary Written Answer

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of powers available to community groups to appeal against housing development targets drawn up by local authorities.

Gavin Barwell: Local authority housing targets must be based on an objectively assessed evidence of need and the capacity to meet that need. There are opportunities for community groups and local residents to raise their concerns about proposed housing targets through public consultation on an emerging Local Plan, and again at the independent examination which must be undertaken before the Local Plan can be adopted

Conservatives To Face Political In-Fight Over Housing

The government has come under attack from its own side on decisions taken locally for housing developments. Secretary of State for CLG, Sajid Javid, also outlined that the Housing White Paper will not be released until January. Andrew Mitchell, MP for Sutton Coldfield, was the first to raise an issue with a decision made by CLG on housing developments. He asked Javid if he could understand “the anger and disappointment” felt by his constituents to “back wholly unnecessary plans to build on Sutton Coldfield’s green belt?” He also called the decision a “breach of the Conservative party’s election manifesto” and stated he would “oppose his decision by all legal means”. Read more on 24housing.

Rise In Buy-To-Let Stamp Duty 'Could Restrict Supply Of New Homes'

The chancellor’s plan to increase stamp duty for buy-to-let investors could lead to new housing developments stalling and rents increasing for tenants of private rented accommodation. On a £250,000 property buy-to-let investors will pay £10,000 of stamp duty, rather than £2,500. The move is designed to raise £3.8bn in tax and help potential first-time buyers afford a home by squeezing demand from buy-to-let investors. However, critics claim it could have the opposite effect by increasing rents and removing a key source of funding for new housing developments. Rents could rise due to a fall in the supply of rented accommodation and landlords raising their charges, while the supply of homes to buy could fall as investors who fund new developments are put off by the tax hike. Read more on the Guardian website.

Call To Cut Local Councils Out Of Housing Schemes

The housing shortage has become so severe in Britain that building projects should be considered by central government rather than by local authorities, according to a new report. Housebuilding should be brought into the nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIP) regime, a report commissioned by Bond Dickinson, the law firm, and Quod, the planning consultancy, says. This would enable developers to apply directly to the government for planning permission, bypassing local authority planning regulations. The report states that there is a “clear imperative for central government to show strong political leadership in driving large-scale housing development in the national public interest”. Read more on the Bond Dickinson website.