:00:00. > :00:00.account when we give out funding for private care, but it depends on a
:00:00. > :00:10.strong economy and this is something that the Government will always do
:00:11. > :00:21.the NHS. These secretary for state of communities and local Government,
:00:22. > :00:26.secretary Sajiv Javid. I would like to make a statement with York
:00:27. > :00:37.permission on the Government's white paper, fixing our broken housing
:00:38. > :00:41.system. I had hoped this would dominate the headlines this morning,
:00:42. > :00:45.but it appears that somebody has beaten me to it at!
:00:46. > :00:52.LAUGHTER I gently sated the honourable
:00:53. > :00:54.gentleman, I did make my statement to the House first.
:00:55. > :01:06.LAUGHTER APPLAUSE
:01:07. > :01:14.I'm glad that the honourable gentleman is in fine fettle and good
:01:15. > :01:20.humour so do continue with your statement.
:01:21. > :01:26.Our housing market is broken. House price inflation has outstripped the
:01:27. > :01:32.OCD. The idea of owning and renting a safe place has become a distant
:01:33. > :01:38.dream. The Government has done much to help, we've taken action on
:01:39. > :01:44.supply and demand and the results have been positive. We've seen the
:01:45. > :01:50.highest level of housing completions since the recession. Between
:01:51. > :01:57.1997-2010, the ratio of average House prices and average income more
:01:58. > :02:04.than doubled, from 3.5 to seven. It has crept up to just over 7.5, but
:02:05. > :02:08.still heading in the wrong direction. Behind the statistics,
:02:09. > :02:14.are millions of Audrey working people. And talk of talking about
:02:15. > :02:20.the first-time buyer that won't have a deposit for a quarter of a
:02:21. > :02:24.century. Or a couple handing half of their combined income in directed
:02:25. > :02:29.sector straight to their landlord. It is being felt by real people in
:02:30. > :02:35.their community. It's one of the biggest barriers to social progress
:02:36. > :02:42.that we face. Root cause is simple. A far too long, we haven't built
:02:43. > :02:48.enough houses. Britain has had west in your's lowest rate of House
:02:49. > :02:55.building for three decades. The situation reached a critical point
:02:56. > :03:04.is under the last Labour Government, when in one year, work began on just
:03:05. > :03:10.95,000 homes. The lowest peacetime level since the 1920s. Thanks to the
:03:11. > :03:16.Conservative effort of central and local Government, large jet, 190,000
:03:17. > :03:28.new homes were completed but it is still not enough. In short, we have
:03:29. > :03:36.two Biltmore of the right sort of houses in the right places, right
:03:37. > :03:45.now. Today's White Paper set out how we will go about doing this. But
:03:46. > :03:49.house-building doesn't just happen. Meeting needs requires coordination
:03:50. > :03:55.across the public and private sectors. There is no magic bullet,
:03:56. > :04:00.we need action on many fronts simultaneously. First, we need to
:04:01. > :04:05.plan properly so we can get the right homes built in the right
:04:06. > :04:09.places. To make this happen, we are going to look at a new way of
:04:10. > :04:16.assessing housing need. Many councils work tirelessly to deal
:04:17. > :04:22.with design and type of housing in their area. But many fail to reduce
:04:23. > :04:27.plans that meet the housing need. It is important that all authorities
:04:28. > :04:31.played by the same rules. We need to have a conversation about housing
:04:32. > :04:35.need and make sure every local area produces a realistic plan which they
:04:36. > :04:40.reveal every five years. Once we know how many homes are needed, we
:04:41. > :04:46.need sites on which to build them, so the White Paper will help to
:04:47. > :04:52.identify appropriate sites for development. Not just empty spaces,
:04:53. > :04:59.but usable, practical sites where new homes are actually required.
:05:00. > :05:06.This is to make sure we don't pick up our countryside. We promised the
:05:07. > :05:15.richest people that the green belt is in safe hands. -- the British
:05:16. > :05:20.people. We will free up more public sector land more quickly. We will
:05:21. > :05:24.increase transparency around land ownership so if someone is sitting
:05:25. > :05:34.unfairly on the site, it could be better used. Everywhere must have a
:05:35. > :05:40.plan in place to ensure communities are happy with the appearance of the
:05:41. > :05:48.new homes. We're also interested in speeding up the rate of build-out.
:05:49. > :05:58.We are simply not quickly enough to stop -- not building quickly enough.
:05:59. > :06:05.We will make the planning system for open and accessible. We will improve
:06:06. > :06:10.the court nation of infrastructure and tackle unnecessary delays such
:06:11. > :06:22.as infrastructure and great crested newts. We will give local
:06:23. > :06:25.authorities to hold -- the toast to hold local developers to account.
:06:26. > :06:30.Local authorities also play a part in getting homes built quickly and
:06:31. > :06:36.I'm looking at how they can use compulsory purchase powers. We will
:06:37. > :06:41.also provide a delivery test to hold them to account for housing across
:06:42. > :06:48.their local area. Finally, the White Paper explains how we will diversify
:06:49. > :06:54.the housing market. At present, the housing market is controlled by a
:06:55. > :06:59.few builders. New builders cannot enter the market easily. It means a
:07:00. > :07:04.lack of innovation which means sluggish productivity growth. We
:07:05. > :07:12.will make it easier for smaller and medium-sized builders to compete. We
:07:13. > :07:19.will avoid things like off-site factory builds. We will explore
:07:20. > :07:30.options for local authorities to build again, and we will encourage
:07:31. > :07:35.things in the private 's rental sector and make it easier to build a
:07:36. > :07:42.custom home. These measures will make a lasting difference to our
:07:43. > :07:48.House supply. Ordinary working people need help now. We promised
:07:49. > :07:54.the band letting agent fees and is White Paper goes further. We will
:07:55. > :07:57.put safeguards in the private rented sector, help houses who are priced
:07:58. > :08:03.out of the market. We will tackle the scourge of unfair leasehold
:08:04. > :08:09.terms which are rest on hard-pressed home buyers. And we will be working
:08:10. > :08:15.with the rental sectors, giving families security they need to set
:08:16. > :08:23.down roots in their community. We have seen almost 300,000 affordable
:08:24. > :08:26.home units built in England. We've seen housing increase sharply and
:08:27. > :08:31.more people getting onto the property ladder such a scheme such
:08:32. > :08:36.as help to buy. We need to go much further and meet our obligations to
:08:37. > :08:41.build houses that people want to living in the places they want to
:08:42. > :08:48.live. That is exactly what this White Paper delivers. It will help
:08:49. > :08:52.the tenants of today facing rising rents, in secure tenancies and those
:08:53. > :08:59.of tomorrow getting homes built in the right places and it will help
:09:00. > :09:02.our children and our children's children by fixing our broken
:09:03. > :09:09.housing market. I commend it to the House.
:09:10. > :09:18.I thank the Secretary of State for the customary copy of his statement
:09:19. > :09:23.beforehand but is this it? Mr Speaker, when the Housing Minister
:09:24. > :09:26.himself admits the Government's record on housing is feeble and
:09:27. > :09:33.embarrassing, we had hoped for better. We needed better. In his
:09:34. > :09:37.statement this afternoon, it will desperately disappoint millions of
:09:38. > :09:41.people struggling month to month to cope with the cost of housing
:09:42. > :09:48.crisis. I have to say, it was feeble beyond belief. After seven years of
:09:49. > :09:52.a Conservative government, he says, I quote, we need to have a proper
:09:53. > :09:59.conversation about housing need. His top priority is a new housing
:10:00. > :10:03.delivery test and how many times before have we heard ministers say
:10:04. > :10:11.we will free up more public sector land more quickly? It is also clear
:10:12. > :10:15.today that we do not just have a housing crisis in this country, we
:10:16. > :10:25.have a crisis in the Conservative Party about what to do. The huge 200
:10:26. > :10:29.page housing and planning at last year, not even mentioned today --
:10:30. > :10:32.act. The boast beforehand from the Secretary of State about radical
:10:33. > :10:37.action on planning, stamped on by the Prime Minister today, and rows
:10:38. > :10:42.between backbenchers and the Secretary of State over planning
:10:43. > :10:48.with local councillors resigning as a result of his decisions. This
:10:49. > :10:52.white paper is not a plan to fix the housing crisis and it will do
:10:53. > :10:58.nothing to reverse the seven years of failure on housing we have seen
:10:59. > :11:02.since 2010. Let me turn to some of the areas where we needed a strong
:11:03. > :11:07.action in the statement today. Home ownership, after seeing 1 million
:11:08. > :11:13.more homeowners under Labour, home ownership under the Conservatives in
:11:14. > :11:18.seven years, it is falling and in freefall for young people. Yet this
:11:19. > :11:23.white paper confirms that the Tory party has given up on home
:11:24. > :11:27.ownership. It waters down the promise to help with those who need
:11:28. > :11:32.help to get a first foot in the housing market. Why not reverse the
:11:33. > :11:38.cuts to investment in new affordable homes to buy that has meant the
:11:39. > :11:45.number of new low-cost homes built has fallen to 7500? Why not stop
:11:46. > :11:51.those earning over 100 grand from getting help through help to buy and
:11:52. > :12:01.make it only available to first-time buyers? Homelessness, after it was
:12:02. > :12:06.cut to a record low under Labour, the number of people sleeping rough
:12:07. > :12:09.on our streets has more than doubled, not a single mention of
:12:10. > :12:19.homelessness this afternoon. Why can he not accept this shames us all in
:12:20. > :12:28.a country as decent as and well off? Why not adopt the Labour plan to end
:12:29. > :12:31.homelessness within a parliament? Action on renters, simply, I quote,
:12:32. > :12:37.working with the rental sector to promote three-year tenancy
:12:38. > :12:43.agreements to help the country's 11 million current renters? Why won't
:12:44. > :12:49.he legislate for longer tenancies tied to predictable rent rises and
:12:50. > :12:54.decent basic standards? Finally, building more homes, this is a
:12:55. > :13:01.government that has pledged to build 1 million new homes by 2020. Yet the
:13:02. > :13:10.total newly built last year is still less than 140 3000. -- 140 3000. The
:13:11. > :13:16.level of affordable house-building has hit a 24 year low. We need all
:13:17. > :13:20.sectors, private house-builders, housing associations and councils,
:13:21. > :13:26.to be firing on all cylinders to build the homes we need. Why will he
:13:27. > :13:32.not drop the deep Tory hostility to councils and let them hold again to
:13:33. > :13:37.meet the needs of local people? -- build again. It is tragically clear
:13:38. > :13:42.from the statement that seven years of failure on housing is set now to
:13:43. > :13:46.stretch to ten. We were promised a white paper, we are presented with a
:13:47. > :13:58.white flag. This is a government with no plan to fix the country's
:13:59. > :14:05.deepening housing crisis. Thank you. Today the Housing Minister had a
:14:06. > :14:11.chance, he had the chance to take a cross-party approach, to behave like
:14:12. > :14:16.an adult, immature person, and actually help in this difficult
:14:17. > :14:21.situation facing so many people under many governments for over 30
:14:22. > :14:26.years -- a mature person. He chose to play cheap party politics. I
:14:27. > :14:31.could respond in the same way. When I talked about 95,000 homes in one
:14:32. > :14:34.year, that was when he was the Housing Minister, the lowest level
:14:35. > :14:39.since the 1920s. That is not what people want to hear. They want the
:14:40. > :14:42.truth. They want to hear government and politicians more generally
:14:43. > :14:49.recognising the size of this problem, recognising that there are
:14:50. > :14:52.young people right now in every one of our constituencies staring into
:14:53. > :14:57.the windows of estate agents, their faces glued to them, dreaming of
:14:58. > :15:03.renting or buying a decent home but knowing it is out of reach because
:15:04. > :15:08.prices have risen so high. That rise in price, the vast majority of it,
:15:09. > :15:11.it took place when Labour were last in power, more than doubling as a
:15:12. > :15:16.ratio to income from 3.5 times to seven times. He pulled also want to
:15:17. > :15:22.know what we are doing about it and that is what is in the white paper
:15:23. > :15:29.today. He has another of questions. Home ownership, it declined as a
:15:30. > :15:33.percentage under Labour, sharply, and it happened because enough homes
:15:34. > :15:37.were not being built. It is time he took responsibility. He asked about
:15:38. > :15:45.homelessness, just a week ago, in this house, we had the homelessness
:15:46. > :15:49.reduction Bill and it was Labour Shadow ministers trying to destroy
:15:50. > :15:53.the Bill with fatal amendments and the only reason they backed off is
:15:54. > :15:59.that they were backed by the housing charities including Crisis not to do
:16:00. > :16:06.so. That is where Labour stands on homelessness. He talked about
:16:07. > :16:10.renters and we have recognised in this document that we should be
:16:11. > :16:14.having a policy that looks after both the needs of those who want to
:16:15. > :16:19.own their own homes and those who want to rent decent homes. Lastly,
:16:20. > :16:22.he talked about councils. Again, it proves he was not listening to the
:16:23. > :16:27.speech. He came in with a prewritten statement. If he had heard me
:16:28. > :16:32.carefully, that is exactly what I said. The truth is, the right
:16:33. > :16:39.honourable gentleman had a chance and he has flunked it. I think that
:16:40. > :16:43.not many of his colleagues are with him on this. Many of his colleagues,
:16:44. > :16:47.I sent they want a cross-party approach, they want the government
:16:48. > :16:51.to work together with politicians across the House to deal with the
:16:52. > :16:54.issue once and for all and I know that in dealing with many of his
:16:55. > :17:01.colleagues in local councils, local labour leaders, they are working
:17:02. > :17:07.with this government because they have given up on this excuse of an
:17:08. > :17:12.opposition. Mr Speaker, there is much to be welcomed in this white
:17:13. > :17:18.paper. It is essential that we build new communities and new homes but in
:17:19. > :17:23.the right place. I am pleased the Government has decided not to relax
:17:24. > :17:26.the green belt rules further which of course the Secretary of State has
:17:27. > :17:32.quite rightly described as sacrosanct. Does he understand the
:17:33. > :17:37.deep anger throughout Sutton Coldfield that the reasonable views
:17:38. > :17:44.of 100,000 people have been totally ignored by a Labour council in a
:17:45. > :17:49.deeply flawed process to build 6000 homes unnecessarily on our green
:17:50. > :17:58.belt? But the frustration that the Government has not been able to stop
:17:59. > :18:01.it. I know that my honourable friend feels very passionately about this
:18:02. > :18:05.issue and I am pleased he has highlighted that in this white paper
:18:06. > :18:10.we have kept in place the protections of the green belt. He
:18:11. > :18:13.refers to a particular case in his constituency and it is important
:18:14. > :18:19.that where local authorities are looking at housing need and they are
:18:20. > :18:22.making a proper assessment and that assessment has been signed off by an
:18:23. > :18:27.independent planning inspector, we should not get in the way. I thank
:18:28. > :18:35.the Minister for advanced sight of his statement and for the copy of
:18:36. > :18:39.the white paper which I must admit is pretty thin. This is the document
:18:40. > :18:44.and this is the substance and the consultation. It is good to see the
:18:45. > :18:46.Minister acknowledge however the gap between the rhetoric of the Tory
:18:47. > :18:51.government and house-building and their record. It is always nice to
:18:52. > :18:56.see a recognition of failure from this government. It is interesting
:18:57. > :18:59.that we have another year and another Housing Bill with no
:19:00. > :19:05.solutions insight. Contrast this with the Scottish Government where
:19:06. > :19:09.the Housing Minister... The Tories would do well to listen because we
:19:10. > :19:20.have a record of success. Our Housing Minister has a target of
:19:21. > :19:26.50,000 in the parliament we are in now in Scotland for affordable
:19:27. > :19:31.housing in the session ahead. We're ready have local housing strategies
:19:32. > :19:36.and strategic investment plans which combines the five-year lands that
:19:37. > :19:42.each local authority has to produce. The Minister might want to look at
:19:43. > :19:49.the Glasgow plan for years ahead. He mentions brownfield land but it has
:19:50. > :19:53.to come with a recognition that contaminated land make need
:19:54. > :19:57.significant investment from government to make it ready for use.
:19:58. > :20:01.The ?1 billion fund is not enough. It will not go far enough to deal
:20:02. > :20:09.with the contamination. The statement also mentions the means of
:20:10. > :20:13.getting progress on land and planning applications, but quality
:20:14. > :20:17.is also important, as is place making. Looking at the example of
:20:18. > :20:21.the meddling Glasgow weather community felt what was being
:20:22. > :20:25.proposed was not good enough and they took to the Scottish Government
:20:26. > :20:31.banning process -- the meadow. Innovative house-building types,
:20:32. > :20:35.could he also look at the Commonwealth Games Village in
:20:36. > :20:39.Glasgow which was built using innovative methods? Great example is
:20:40. > :20:44.going on in Scotland. I'll glad to see the insurance issues are being
:20:45. > :20:49.mentioned because it is incredibly important. My final point, Mr
:20:50. > :20:52.Speaker, would he look at the private housing tenancies act of
:20:53. > :20:55.Scotland for examples of good practice and acknowledge the
:20:56. > :21:02.elephant in the room which is the continual idiot logical pursuing of
:21:03. > :21:07.right to buy which is ruining the opportunities of people to access
:21:08. > :21:11.affordable housing? -- ideological. I want to see all of the people of
:21:12. > :21:17.the UK have access to decent homes to rent or to buy and that includes
:21:18. > :21:20.the people of Scotland. I remit is only for England and that is what
:21:21. > :21:25.the white paper is focused on. She talked about a number of injured
:21:26. > :21:31.policies, picking up on the right to buy, we are very proud of that
:21:32. > :21:35.policy -- English policies. I think it is right we support those people
:21:36. > :21:38.who want to own their own homes as well as those who want to rent
:21:39. > :21:42.decent homes. There is one thing both Scottish people and in which
:21:43. > :21:46.people required to have access to decent homes and that is a decent
:21:47. > :21:49.income which means having a job. If she had got highway and Scotland had
:21:50. > :21:54.become independent, I think the situation would be very different
:21:55. > :21:59.for Scottish people -- her way. I congratulate him on bringing a
:22:00. > :22:05.Macmillan like sense of urgency to tackling the housing crisis which
:22:06. > :22:11.causes or aggravates most of the social problems we face. Isn't the
:22:12. > :22:15.first step recognising and being honest about how many homes we need
:22:16. > :22:19.and where we need them? I welcome his bringing forward a new standard
:22:20. > :22:26.methodology for assessing housing need. Can my right honourable friend
:22:27. > :22:30.reassure me it will include the affordability of housing so that it
:22:31. > :22:36.deals with the places where the pressure is most acute? He makes a
:22:37. > :22:40.very poor to appoint. The starting point has to be that every local
:22:41. > :22:45.authority has a realistic assessment of need and for it to be realistic,
:22:46. > :22:45.it must look at the market pressures locally which includes
:22:46. > :22:57.affordability. I welcome the recommendation from
:22:58. > :23:07.the Government that housing need this country can't be met by people
:23:08. > :23:13.building homes for sale, they have to be affordable. In terms of
:23:14. > :23:19.schemes which public money, will the various parties involved be able to
:23:20. > :23:24.get the right ten year mix for this game as well as funding available
:23:25. > :23:30.for social housing where appropriate, and secondly, will
:23:31. > :23:35.councils now be free to negotiate with developers the right types of
:23:36. > :23:40.housing on this game with the requirement for starter homes being
:23:41. > :23:46.dropped? I always listen to the chest select committee and he looks
:23:47. > :23:49.at an important issue. On these two specific questions, in terms of the
:23:50. > :23:54.ten year mix and public money, we will be making sure that it will
:23:55. > :24:05.promote those homes available for rent, the H CIA are working with
:24:06. > :24:19.councils, and we will be requiring the ten year to be thought
:24:20. > :24:32.through. Would he not agree that many people in my constituency find
:24:33. > :24:37.it hard to produce neighbourhood plans, that these to come forward
:24:38. > :24:41.and then be undermined by some ruthless behaviour by very rogue
:24:42. > :24:46.developers. Well my honourable friend agree with me that if we are
:24:47. > :24:50.to deliver this imaginative vision outlined today that we need to curb
:24:51. > :24:55.that sort of behaviour? My honourable friend makes a very
:24:56. > :24:59.important point, the importance of neighbourhood plans. I'm aware that
:25:00. > :25:06.he knows of the bill going through the current Parliament, but I think
:25:07. > :25:12.he will be pleased to see in here further steps to show local
:25:13. > :25:21.community being taken more seriously through neighbourhood plans.
:25:22. > :25:26.Communities like mine will be stripped of desperately needed
:25:27. > :25:30.housing in favour of high priced properties. Can you confirm you will
:25:31. > :25:37.no longer proceed with that policy? I cannot confirm that because we are
:25:38. > :25:42.committed to allowing people to live in housing association homes to have
:25:43. > :25:48.the right to buy, and we started the process of pilots, some 3000 homes
:25:49. > :25:55.involved with that. Once it's complete we will how to take the
:25:56. > :26:02.rest of it forward. What lessons can we learn from the Netherlands and
:26:03. > :26:04.Germany, and how can we encourage land ruling where local authorities
:26:05. > :26:12.work with land overs to bring out the surplus plots of land so
:26:13. > :26:19.families can have there own custom House building schemes? Can I thank
:26:20. > :26:23.my honourable friend the work is done to promote build and custom
:26:24. > :26:30.build as is promoted in Germany and the Netherlands. He also talks about
:26:31. > :26:44.land ruling where there are some fantastic examples in the
:26:45. > :26:57.Netherlands. -- land ruling. This is an and and ambitious and
:26:58. > :27:03.disappointing paper. It I could respectively ask what planet he is
:27:04. > :27:08.living on? Average incomes in my constituency and ?26,000 a year and
:27:09. > :27:12.not ?80,000. The building of a million new council homes, will he
:27:13. > :27:19.commit to the capital funding for that and lift borrowing cap side
:27:20. > :27:28.councils can build again? I thank the Honourable Gentleman for turning
:27:29. > :27:35.up today and the answer is more supply, whether it's council homes,
:27:36. > :27:46.housing associations, we need more supply is the only way to tackle
:27:47. > :27:57.affordability. Rocks to council is doing everything it can to defend
:27:58. > :28:03.our green belt but the Liberal Democrats opposed -- proposed the
:28:04. > :28:09.building of hundreds of thousands of houses on our green belt. We are
:28:10. > :28:14.having access to finance. What actions is my honourable friend
:28:15. > :28:22.taking to make sure smaller builders have access and can build those new
:28:23. > :28:28.homes? My honourable friend makes a good point here. I've talked about
:28:29. > :28:33.the importance of having smaller builders. One way we are helping
:28:34. > :28:39.financially is 3-D home you'll just fund which is ?3 billion of funding,
:28:40. > :28:43.much of it available to the small and medium-size house-building
:28:44. > :28:48.sector, but there are a number of other measures as well as financial
:28:49. > :28:55.to help that and which he sees them she will welcome them. What other
:28:56. > :29:00.plans to deal with inner-city areas particularly along the river in
:29:01. > :29:05.Vauxhall, my constituency, where we have owners coming from way outside
:29:06. > :29:09.this country and leaving flat empty for a very long time? Is the
:29:10. > :29:19.Government not prepared to buy up some of this land themselves to
:29:20. > :29:24.build really affordable housing? I think some of this land is public
:29:25. > :29:29.land, and there is a lot in the white paper our to work on
:29:30. > :29:33.accelerated construction whereby the Government can work together with
:29:34. > :29:41.councils and the private sector to develop. When she talks about the
:29:42. > :29:44.empty homes, the number of those has fallen to the lowest level since
:29:45. > :29:49.records began. There is still more to do but that's because of some of
:29:50. > :29:56.the changes we have made, giving incentives to local councils to
:29:57. > :30:00.bring those homes back into use. My Forest of Dean District Council is
:30:01. > :30:05.working hard to get its local plan in place. It gives that planning
:30:06. > :30:12.permission but gets frustrated when developers don't build them and then
:30:13. > :30:15.the same developers in a speculative application saying there's no land
:30:16. > :30:25.supply because they are building their own houses. What is in the
:30:26. > :30:33.White Paper and what more can he do? People can't live in planning
:30:34. > :30:38.permissions. They need houses. It's right that they get frustrated when
:30:39. > :30:43.they don't see the houses being built. There's a lot in this paper
:30:44. > :30:50.to tackle that. When I talk of compulsory purchase in the most
:30:51. > :31:00.extreme cases, but also councils can put in a time limit when they put in
:31:01. > :31:07.applications which will expire if they are not built in time. This is
:31:08. > :31:16.to end banning permission and give somebody else a turn. The House
:31:17. > :31:19.prices are far removed from the London and the south-east areas, but
:31:20. > :31:29.many are unable to buy because of low wages. What they require first
:31:30. > :31:34.and foremost is decent rented accommodation which will come in the
:31:35. > :31:41.main from the public and voluntary sector. In all the years I've done
:31:42. > :31:50.this job, not one person has ever asked me to be rehoused in the
:31:51. > :31:55.private sector. Where I agree with the honourable gentleman is that we
:31:56. > :32:01.do need decent homes for rent and that comes back to the same problem
:32:02. > :32:08.with rental and with buying, we need a better supply of homes. With
:32:09. > :32:11.Brent, we are trying to encourage a bill to rent, so when local
:32:12. > :32:22.authorities build houses, once think -- get them to build specifically
:32:23. > :32:27.for rent. I welcome the paper which will allow security, but there is a
:32:28. > :32:35.lack of infrastructure providing a barrier. Can my right arm rubble
:32:36. > :32:43.friend confirm that the housing infrastructure front will find vital
:32:44. > :32:54.new money to overcome these problems in areas such as Wealden. We are
:32:55. > :33:00.trying to tackle this issue of making sure that when local
:33:01. > :33:10.authorities make decisions that the infrastructure can be put in place
:33:11. > :33:15.to support them. Secretary of State, my constituents bill that localism
:33:16. > :33:22.is all but dead and I wonder if you can expand on how you intend to
:33:23. > :33:27.strengthen planning laws so that their voices are heard louder than
:33:28. > :33:33.the average is developers who are trying to thwart this and fight any
:33:34. > :33:41.tiny amount of localism that remains? We've Whiteley follow a
:33:42. > :33:44.policy of letting local authorities determine what is right for their
:33:45. > :33:55.area. There is one very important thing here which is to make sure
:33:56. > :34:01.that they don't avoid making the tough decisions. There is a housing
:34:02. > :34:04.shortage in every part of England. There are areas both in the
:34:05. > :34:09.south-east and the North, and the only way we will tackle that is if
:34:10. > :34:14.local authorities are honest with their needs and we will tackle that.
:34:15. > :34:22.The people of Dartmore will welcome this paper and it will make a change
:34:23. > :34:34.to people's opportunity to buy their own home. Do we need to update the
:34:35. > :34:44.leasehold act in order to move into a mixed tenure with our housing
:34:45. > :34:51.stock. The process has already begun. We talk a bit about it in the
:34:52. > :34:57.White Paper and what I am interested in is possibly the abuse that is
:34:58. > :35:02.going on our people who are buying their homes on a leasehold basis,
:35:03. > :35:11.and some of the agreement I have seen about ground rates, I am
:35:12. > :35:22.looking at them in consultation. House prices in Slough have risen by
:35:23. > :35:26.39% and our affordability ratio is something like a double the one the
:35:27. > :35:32.Secretary of State quoted, so what is he going to do for places like
:35:33. > :35:36.Slough that are built up to the boundaries but are surrounded by
:35:37. > :35:40.Conservative councils who simply won't provide homes in their areas
:35:41. > :35:48.so that now we are housing people who are commuting to London and we
:35:49. > :35:52.can't find homes for street cleaners, nursery nurses, local
:35:53. > :35:59.people that our constituencies really need. One thing we can do
:36:00. > :36:06.better across the country is take density more seriously, and take
:36:07. > :36:13.brown belt land and use it more efficiently. Across Europe, other
:36:14. > :36:20.countries manage density better than we do, and what we have is for local
:36:21. > :36:23.authorities to take density seriously. There will be in big step
:36:24. > :36:41.There will be indicative requirements about what will help.
:36:42. > :36:49.My ward currently has three public enquiries and possibly abort coming
:36:50. > :36:54.along regarding the environment. What is in place for the appeals
:36:55. > :37:03.process so that the developers can use the right of appeal and the
:37:04. > :37:09.planning legislation? As we know, in all of our constituencies, there are
:37:10. > :37:13.many cases going to appeal, but some of them are frivolous and they
:37:14. > :37:19.shouldn't be appealed, but the reason it happens is because there
:37:20. > :37:21.is no cost to making an appeal so many people do that. In the White
:37:22. > :37:30.Paper we are introducing a fee. Some councils have fallen short of
:37:31. > :37:35.meeting the housing need for years because local plans have protected
:37:36. > :37:40.the green belt limiting the supply of land. If that is also the
:37:41. > :37:48.Secretary of State's priority, how will he achieve his ambitions on the
:37:49. > :37:55.scale he has outlined today, particularly for families who do not
:37:56. > :37:59.want high rise flats? 13% of the land in England is green belt so
:38:00. > :38:03.there is a huge amount of land that is not and it should be the Verity,
:38:04. > :38:11.that land, whether brownfield land, increasing density, -- the priority,
:38:12. > :38:16.and there are cases when a local authority decides that the tests of
:38:17. > :38:20.using the green belt are met, when it is properly done and inspected by
:38:21. > :38:25.the planning Inspectorate, the local authority can decide, but it should
:38:26. > :38:29.not eat the priority, the protein must be brownfield and better use of
:38:30. > :38:33.density -- should not be the priority. If it is not in the
:38:34. > :38:38.interests of builders to sufficiently reduce the price by
:38:39. > :38:42.increasing the supply to the necessary extent to achieve that,
:38:43. > :38:51.isn't the answer to greater than power the public sector? -- greater
:38:52. > :39:00.empower. Mr Speaker, there is lots of answers to that question.
:39:01. > :39:06.Actually, where my honourable friend is right is that there is an
:39:07. > :39:10.important role for the public sector, whether indirectly through
:39:11. > :39:13.the housing associations or some of the councils and there are excellent
:39:14. > :39:18.examples of councils with house-building programmes. A Devon
:39:19. > :39:25.city of supply is required and the public sector has a role to play. --
:39:26. > :39:28.a diversity. I am pleased the Government is finally recognising
:39:29. > :39:33.the housing market is broken but I disagree with his prescription that
:39:34. > :39:38.supply is the only answer. In Manchester, we have built thousands
:39:39. > :39:42.of new homes, upgraded all council homes to decent standards, but the
:39:43. > :39:47.worst quality housing in Manchester is in the private rented sector. It
:39:48. > :39:53.is unfit for human habitation, damp and dirty and by and large, paid for
:39:54. > :40:00.by the taxpayer. Through housing benefit. When will the Government
:40:01. > :40:06.intervened in this broken market? Whether homes are made available for
:40:07. > :40:10.rent or to buy, there are certain standards that must be met and it is
:40:11. > :40:16.important... We do not want a race to the bottom. Where I beg to differ
:40:17. > :40:21.with the honourable lady is that it is ultimately a supply problem. In
:40:22. > :40:28.Manchester, like so many parts of Britain, they have not built enough
:40:29. > :40:33.homes. Can he confirmed the white paper in Courage is building up not
:40:34. > :40:38.out in urban areas? It should reduce pressure on green belt, we generate
:40:39. > :40:44.urban areas and make renting and mortgaging more affordable. What
:40:45. > :40:50.assessment has he made of the number of urban sites that could be
:40:51. > :40:56.released for housing in this way? I can confirm that it is a very
:40:57. > :41:00.important measure in this white paper and can I also congratulate
:41:01. > :41:04.him on the work he has done to promote density and he has shared
:41:05. > :41:09.with me examples of where it has been done around the world properly?
:41:10. > :41:15.One thing I am interested in and it is in the paper is where we can make
:41:16. > :41:21.at a use of transport hubs. They can have huge car parks, for example,
:41:22. > :41:25.and much of that space could be used to create high-density housing that
:41:26. > :41:29.would be very desirable for people. Maybe the car parks could be
:41:30. > :41:33.underground. These are good examples and I am glad my honourable friend
:41:34. > :41:38.is encouraging this too. There are at least 60 colleagues seeking to
:41:39. > :41:42.catch my eye. It will be almost certainly impossible to accommodate
:41:43. > :41:56.them. I would be helped if people could confine themselves to one
:41:57. > :42:00.sentence questions without preamble. Isn't there a big lie at the heart
:42:01. > :42:05.of the housing policy and that is that you can create new houses on
:42:06. > :42:08.old land, brownfield land? All of the research shows that if it was
:42:09. > :42:14.good brownfield land, we have used it already. We have to build on
:42:15. > :42:19.greenfield land to give people the chance of a decent home. Why doesn't
:42:20. > :42:30.he have the courage to build on Greenfield? One colourful sentence,
:42:31. > :42:33.Mr Speaker. I do not agree. If you look at for example Madrid. More
:42:34. > :42:39.than four times the density of London. I do not know if he has been
:42:40. > :42:42.there, but he would find it is a perfectly beautiful well-designed
:42:43. > :42:48.city. It is what you can do with density. Pettiness from a
:42:49. > :42:55.philosopher, perhaps, so Oliver Letwin. I hugely welcome this but
:42:56. > :43:00.can invite the Secretary of State to be more optimistic about consensus?
:43:01. > :43:03.Despite the sound and fury, remarkable sign that the Shadow
:43:04. > :43:09.Secretary of State did not disagree with anything in the white paper.
:43:10. > :43:13.What my right honourable friend points out is that the Shadow
:43:14. > :43:21.Housing Minister has realised what he could have done when he was
:43:22. > :43:26.Housing Minister. The minister says that people are yearning for honesty
:43:27. > :43:28.and truth. Travelling around my constituency, I am frequently
:43:29. > :43:34.shocked at the standard of the private housing stock and English
:43:35. > :43:39.housing surveys reveals 29% of private rented homes are still not
:43:40. > :43:42.decent. In the spirit of honesty, why did the Government block
:43:43. > :43:50.Labour's proposal to require landlords to only rent properties
:43:51. > :43:53.fit for human habitation? Already within legislation, there are
:43:54. > :43:59.standards for housing including for rented accommodation. If we start
:44:00. > :44:02.introducing new regulation that is unnecessary, it will increase the
:44:03. > :44:07.burden on house-builders and push up the cost even more. Some of the
:44:08. > :44:13.large developments around Newark have gained a bad name because of
:44:14. > :44:17.the common practice with large developers like persimmon of selling
:44:18. > :44:23.freehold properties but ensuring the residents have to pay for many years
:44:24. > :44:26.to come rip-off prices in terms of management and costs of putting up
:44:27. > :44:29.satellite dishes, outrageous practice hurting working people in
:44:30. > :44:39.this country. Would he consider banning this? Yes. Will the
:44:40. > :44:43.Secretary of State outline how this white paper aligns with industrial
:44:44. > :44:46.strategy and how the Government will collaborate with the construction
:44:47. > :44:50.industry on matters like skills, innovation, supply chain to ensure
:44:51. > :44:59.the house-building challenge can be met? A very important link and one
:45:00. > :45:03.example is around skills. I mentioned earlier the importance of
:45:04. > :45:06.factory building and it is a different type of skill set and it
:45:07. > :45:12.requires the Government to help support that but it also helps more
:45:13. > :45:16.generally with the skills challenge where we will have a new immigration
:45:17. > :45:20.policy following our departure from the EU and we have got to think
:45:21. > :45:28.carefully about that and its links to the construction industry. The
:45:29. > :45:37.majority of the new homes he has announced will be leasehold. Many
:45:38. > :45:43.leaseholders are subject to abuse. Can I ask that in his consultation
:45:44. > :45:47.in dealing with abuse it will include changing commonhold
:45:48. > :45:50.procedure so they work and those who have unfettered dish and get stopped
:45:51. > :45:58.by the competition market authority and gain nothing by trying to
:45:59. > :46:01.exploit leaseholders? I can confirm it is in the white paper as part of
:46:02. > :46:09.the consultation and it is partly because of the work my honourable
:46:10. > :46:12.friend has done in this area. Modular housing is not going to be
:46:13. > :46:18.the panacea to this country's housing crisis. Traditional
:46:19. > :46:21.house-building will still be the majority of the kind of housing
:46:22. > :46:25.people want to live in in the immediate future. There is no
:46:26. > :46:28.mention of the critical shortage of skilled people in the building
:46:29. > :46:33.industry. How is he going to build and meet his targets without the
:46:34. > :46:39.people to do it? No one is saying modular homes and the factory built
:46:40. > :46:42.is the panacea but it has an important contribution to make.
:46:43. > :46:46.Traditional building remains important and that will stay the
:46:47. > :46:50.case for many years to come. Part of tried to get more skills into the
:46:51. > :46:55.sector is the apprenticeship levy which comes into place in April,
:46:56. > :46:58.something I was proud to introduce as Business Secretary, and already I
:46:59. > :47:03.have heard from construction companies, the plans they have to
:47:04. > :47:07.take on more apprentices. Can I welcome the standardisation of
:47:08. > :47:11.housing supply for local authorities? Could he confirmed that
:47:12. > :47:16.means that where there is an improved local plan and approved
:47:17. > :47:21.neighbourhood plan, there should not be permissions granted outside of
:47:22. > :47:27.that envelope? That is what it means, Mr Speaker. My constituents
:47:28. > :47:31.are very concerned about proposals to build on green belt but we need
:47:32. > :47:37.more affordable homes. What will the white paper do to a to valet is sat
:47:38. > :47:45.on -- what will the white paper Forster valet is sat on brownfield
:47:46. > :47:50.site to get on with developing? -- force developers. There is no easy
:47:51. > :47:56.answer. Sometimes there can be a good reason why a developer has
:47:57. > :48:02.another project to go on when they have finished their current one, but
:48:03. > :48:05.planning permission into homes. planning permission into homes.
:48:06. > :48:11.There are measures including changes to completion notices, being able to
:48:12. > :48:15.attach conditions to planning permissions, and also, one new
:48:16. > :48:18.measure, which we will consult on, allowing local authorities to take
:48:19. > :48:27.into account for large developments the track record of a developer.
:48:28. > :48:30.Will he confirmed that it is still the Government's policy that
:48:31. > :48:35.London's green belt is a priceless sessional asset and an asset for the
:48:36. > :48:40.City of London and would he confirm he would not be party were a local
:48:41. > :48:44.authority has ducked difficult decisions that they could short cut
:48:45. > :48:48.their way out of it by a ?2.5 billion development where the green
:48:49. > :48:52.belt is at its narrowest around London, getting a nice billion
:48:53. > :48:58.pounds for the developer and the landowner? I will not talk about a
:48:59. > :49:03.particular planning application, but what I can confirm is that the
:49:04. > :49:07.protections of the green belt are as strong as ever. One thing we have
:49:08. > :49:10.done in the white paper for the first time is set out much more
:49:11. > :49:15.clearly the steps we expect a local authority to go through before it
:49:16. > :49:20.even considers the green belt, it must show it has looked at all
:49:21. > :49:27.reasonable alternatives. How does the Secretary of State intend to
:49:28. > :49:31.help local authorities to purchase land under compulsory purchase
:49:32. > :49:36.orders when he has devastated their budgets by up to 60% and shouldn't
:49:37. > :49:42.he be holding himself to account and not local authorities for his
:49:43. > :49:49.failures? What I am specifically consulting on is the possibility of
:49:50. > :49:52.local authorities having auctions using compulsory purchase orders so
:49:53. > :50:01.it would not necessarily mean they are buying it themselves. In
:50:02. > :50:04.high-growth areas like my constituency the key issue is
:50:05. > :50:10.ensuring we have the infrastructure for schools, health care, transport,
:50:11. > :50:14.so can he please give us more details of how the infrastructure
:50:15. > :50:18.fund for housing will work in practice to provide money and ensure
:50:19. > :50:24.we have housing and infrastructure? I can tell my honourable friend that
:50:25. > :50:31.the fund which will be launched in April will be run by the DCR G, ?2.3
:50:32. > :50:36.billion, and it will be a bidding process where local councils and
:50:37. > :50:39.possibly other parties can bid directly for the infrastructure
:50:40. > :50:43.necessary. I am conscious many colleagues are eager to get more
:50:44. > :50:49.details and we will publish those as soon as possible. Isn't the member
:50:50. > :50:55.right that it is time to take much tougher action against absent
:50:56. > :50:58.private landlords who rake in the housing benefit but do not reinvest
:50:59. > :51:01.a penny of that money into the upkeep of properties cost you lot
:51:02. > :51:05.shouldn't councils be given simpler powers over those properties where
:51:06. > :51:10.they are below the decent standard to send a clear message to those
:51:11. > :51:19.landlords, respect our communities or get out of Greater Manchester? Of
:51:20. > :51:23.course, he will know that we want all landlords, whether in rented
:51:24. > :51:28.accommodation or for sale, to meet certain standards. But it does come
:51:29. > :51:33.back to the underlying problem which is one of the reasons that landlords
:51:34. > :51:37.can sometimes extract higher rent or more difficult terms is because of a
:51:38. > :51:41.lack of supply of homes and it applies to Manchester as birch as
:51:42. > :51:47.anywhere else. I am pleased to hear the Secretary of State we tried that
:51:48. > :51:51.the green belt is safe. -- as much as in Ross. In Stockport, there are
:51:52. > :51:58.plans to build over 4000 houses on we felt in my constituency. Would he
:51:59. > :52:01.reassured me, my constituents and the 3600 people who signed my
:52:02. > :52:09.petition that the green belt is safe in our hands and no plans to remove
:52:10. > :52:14.any restrictions on it? We have made it clear in this white paper that
:52:15. > :52:18.the green belt maintains all of the protections it enjoys today and
:52:19. > :52:22.again, for the first time, we have set out quite clearly what it is we
:52:23. > :52:25.expect the local authority to go through to demonstrate they have
:52:26. > :52:31.looked at all other reasonable alternatives. Thank you. Can the
:52:32. > :52:36.Secretary of State confirm whether he remains committed to a definition
:52:37. > :52:43.of an affordable home at up to 80% of market rent or ?450,000 to buy in
:52:44. > :52:49.London? Can he confirm what now counts as a starter home? Will local
:52:50. > :52:53.authorities still be subject to draconian compliance directives if
:52:54. > :52:58.they fail to do -- if they fail to deliver them?
:52:59. > :53:05.Mr Speaker, we do want to see more starter homes being rolled out. The
:53:06. > :53:12.process has begun and that will include homes sold at a 20% discount
:53:13. > :53:21.to market, but it will also include other types of home for ownership.
:53:22. > :53:28.My stitch and C is entirely green belt apart from developed areas and
:53:29. > :53:35.do provides protection against London urban sprawl. Can you confirm
:53:36. > :53:41.that it might cancel cannot meet its needs assessments, that plan must be
:53:42. > :53:49.upheld by planning inspectors? -- my council cannot meet. I can't talk
:53:50. > :53:52.about take particular plan or application but what I can confirm
:53:53. > :53:59.is that we have thought very carefully about measures that have
:54:00. > :54:06.huge amounts of green belt -- for areas that have huge amounts of
:54:07. > :54:11.green belt, and ask local authorities to do more to help their
:54:12. > :54:24.neighbours. So we have mentioned a statement of common purpose which we
:54:25. > :54:31.will discuss. In Brighton and Hove alone there are 26,000 is on the
:54:32. > :54:39.waiting list, so why won't he lit the borrowing cap. He keeps talking
:54:40. > :54:46.about supply, building on the green belt has risen five bold. Counsels a
:54:47. > :54:53.year ago asked for more borrowing powers so they could build homes. We
:54:54. > :54:58.did that in the budget, the first of last year, and there's still lots of
:54:59. > :55:05.head room. I still think there's ?300 million of head room. I welcome
:55:06. > :55:14.the philosophy of the right houses in the right places, but we keep
:55:15. > :55:21.seeing Kirkley building the wrong houses, no regard for school places,
:55:22. > :55:26.infrastructure and collection of 106 money. What I can tell my honourable
:55:27. > :55:34.friend is that weak speced all councils to come up with the right
:55:35. > :55:38.plans for our areas. We asked the planning inspector to look at those
:55:39. > :55:48.plans and they cannot be adopted until that process has been gone
:55:49. > :56:00.through. Nottingham city homes one national recognition for its scheme
:56:01. > :56:06.for older people in Lenton. If he is serious about providing safe, secure
:56:07. > :56:16.homes, why doesn't he dropped the proposal of capping. One thing in
:56:17. > :56:20.the White Paper is a requirement for local authorities to go through
:56:21. > :56:25.lands to account for everyone in their community, including the
:56:26. > :56:29.elderly and the disabled. She asks me about supported housing, there's
:56:30. > :56:40.a consultation going on and we will look at all these issues carefully.
:56:41. > :56:48.There is a wild West adversarial Lib Dem lazy planning attitude in my
:56:49. > :56:59.constituency, and I welcome the fact that disabled and elderly people's
:57:00. > :57:03.needs will be looked at. We have extreme woodland development in a
:57:04. > :57:13.constituency which I would like to see halted. Lib Dem and lazy does go
:57:14. > :57:19.well together, and secondly, she is right about ancient woodland. One of
:57:20. > :57:25.the things we've done in this white Paper is that I didn't feel why
:57:26. > :57:34.ancient woodland should have less protection than green belt, so that
:57:35. > :57:44.is why we are updating this. The honourable gentleman for Leeds North
:57:45. > :57:52.West is not lazy buts hyperactive. To call anyone lazy judging from
:57:53. > :57:55.these pages is pretty pathetic. He has done nothing in his turn to make
:57:56. > :58:04.sure that the right houses are being built in the right places? Will he
:58:05. > :58:15.speak to my council about why they are facing more green belt and
:58:16. > :58:21.Greenfield development on land which the wrong sort of housing is being
:58:22. > :58:25.built? I think what many councillors will welcome today is the
:58:26. > :58:29.requirement for everyone to play by the same rules, and they all
:58:30. > :58:35.understand the need for homes in their areas and I suggest he does
:58:36. > :58:40.the same. I welcome the measures to combat homelessness in the white
:58:41. > :58:47.paper, but part of the solution is direct commissioning for housing.
:58:48. > :58:53.It's not very good so far. What action can my honourable friend take
:58:54. > :58:59.to speed up homes for those who desperately need them? Can I take
:59:00. > :59:04.the opportunity to commend the work my honourable friend has done
:59:05. > :59:07.non-business with the bill wending its way through Parliament. He is
:59:08. > :59:13.correct on the importance of commission, it has a role to play
:59:14. > :59:21.and I'm picking at it carefully. The total Government spending is
:59:22. > :59:25.estimated at 28 billion, but 9 billion was spent on housing
:59:26. > :59:32.benefit. Isn't this a demonstration that rent is too high, and even
:59:33. > :59:39.those in work can't afford it, and has he considered housing benefit in
:59:40. > :59:44.this White Paper? The honourable lady will know that housing benefit
:59:45. > :59:52.has been reformed, but she is correct to make the link between
:59:53. > :59:57.rent and housing. And that is because the too long we haven't been
:59:58. > :00:06.building enough homes. I welcome today's paper with its balanced
:00:07. > :00:10.views. Will credence be given to local authorities held to ransom by
:00:11. > :00:17.developers who refuse to make concessions in the 106 programme and
:00:18. > :00:24.then frustrate communities by not delivering on infrastructure? It is
:00:25. > :00:30.often a problem that my honourable friend makes, and in the White Paper
:00:31. > :00:37.he will see some changes that will come about following a consultation,
:00:38. > :00:45.following section 106 and the silt payment. We need new houses but
:00:46. > :00:56.elements not all was popular with the public. The best thing I've seen
:00:57. > :01:07.so far is putting in infrastructure with garden villages. Schools,
:01:08. > :01:13.parking. The flexibility provided to places like Milton Keynes which
:01:14. > :01:21.wishes to expand into the Oxford corridor. What about targets that
:01:22. > :01:26.could risk undermined in the long-term growth? That's a good
:01:27. > :01:32.point from my honourable friend and what it requires is that when plans
:01:33. > :01:39.are put together, it's looking at the long-term, not just five years'
:01:40. > :01:43.land supply, but beyond that, the need for that, but also more
:01:44. > :01:54.cooperation with neighbours putting in its plans and that's where I
:01:55. > :01:58.think this will help. I'm glad the Minister eventually came round to
:01:59. > :02:05.realising the need to tackle land bank in and developers sitting so
:02:06. > :02:12.these are very welcome, but when he will -- will he start listening to
:02:13. > :02:17.councils, despite the answer to Brighton, they need deep orange cap
:02:18. > :02:25.lifted, the freedom to RM also they can build more houses? We have
:02:26. > :02:31.increased the borrowing ability of local councils, however, where the
:02:32. > :02:34.most ambitious councils, where they want to come forward and do a deal
:02:35. > :02:41.with central Government, we are listening and that imitation is
:02:42. > :02:49.included in the paper. Can a self-imposed housing targets become
:02:50. > :02:59.an exceptional circumstance to build on the green belt? The way that we
:03:00. > :03:03.have tackled the green belt by keeping its existing protections and
:03:04. > :03:10.highlighting for the first time everything a local authority has to
:03:11. > :03:17.go through to show its looked at all other reasonable options. Following
:03:18. > :03:24.on from Nottingham South, surely the Minister has two act sets its his
:03:25. > :03:31.plans that will lead to reduction in supply of housing the Midlands.
:03:32. > :03:36.That's a problem he could fix. That's a market he is breaking?
:03:37. > :03:46.There's a consultation going on regarding supporting housing and
:03:47. > :03:49.that will appear in due course. Would demand fall if we could reduce
:03:50. > :03:55.a third of a million people coming into this country each year? I've
:03:56. > :04:00.looked at this carefully and I'm not sure it makes the kind of difference
:04:01. > :04:07.that my honourable friend believes. It's got nothing to do with
:04:08. > :04:11.immigration but natural population growth and people living longer and
:04:12. > :04:18.that will be something that has to be catered for, regardless. Even if
:04:19. > :04:22.immigration would fall to zero, we would still have a deficit of two
:04:23. > :04:30.million and we would still have people living in cramped conditions
:04:31. > :04:39.and still have two keep building homes. No social housing has been
:04:40. > :04:47.built in York. How will this help our housing crisis? No plan has been
:04:48. > :04:54.put forward. It will help in the same way it will help across the
:04:55. > :04:57.country, every local authority will have an assessment of need and apply
:04:58. > :05:15.on that basis. My constituents are shocked by the
:05:16. > :05:22.possibility building on green belt by the Lib Dem controlled council.
:05:23. > :05:29.So we welcome this paper, but will green belt land only be built on in
:05:30. > :05:35.exceptional circumstances? Gamma yes. I can confirm that. I note with
:05:36. > :05:50.some alarm the housing standards. We have
:05:51. > :05:56.some of the smallest housing in Europe. We do not want to build
:05:57. > :06:00.rabbit coops for young families. Can the Secretary of State confirm he
:06:01. > :06:09.will proceed with great caution in this area. That's why there is a
:06:10. > :06:15.consultation, I can confirm that. At the same time, it's important that
:06:16. > :06:22.it isn't a race to the bottom. It has been pointed out that the
:06:23. > :06:33.Government benches that I followed by calling Mr Wragg followed by Mr
:06:34. > :06:41.Bone. It was in no way intentional! Candour Minister what he's going to
:06:42. > :06:46.do for key workers trying to access homes in areas with high property
:06:47. > :06:53.prices? There are two parts to this answer. First of all, our commitment
:06:54. > :06:59.with more affordable homes boast to rent and buy, providing extra
:07:00. > :07:12.funding to housing associations. It's been allocated four billion in
:07:13. > :07:22.the last budget. Thank you, Mr Speaker. In Cheshire, most of the
:07:23. > :07:27.brown field sites that are available have been built on. There's no green
:07:28. > :07:39.belt land, pressure on school places and local governments. Can I ask
:07:40. > :07:44.whether they will meet the needs of constituents there in terms of
:07:45. > :07:49.housing? I'm sure that the Prime Minister would be happy to meet. We
:07:50. > :07:50.can't discuss the specific issue but a more general discussion will be
:07:51. > :07:58.welcome. The white paper talks about
:07:59. > :08:17.sharpening the tools available to local
:08:18. > :08:22.authorities we have tried to get the right balance which is to first of
:08:23. > :08:28.all respect that very legitimate reasons why the supply of any
:08:29. > :08:31.project would have to have a pipeline, including land, in the
:08:32. > :08:37.case of a house-builder, but there is evidence were some firms take
:08:38. > :08:40.advantage of that. There are many tools in the white paper and if
:08:41. > :08:44.after looking at them more carefully by honourable friend thinks more
:08:45. > :08:49.needs to be done, I will be listening to him. If we are going to
:08:50. > :08:51.stop building on the green belt, such as that currently being
:08:52. > :08:58.proposed in Bury as part of that proposed in Bury as part of that
:08:59. > :09:02.Greater Manchester freighter -- framework, does he agree the only
:09:03. > :09:05.homes is to insist on higher density homes is to insist on higher density
:09:06. > :09:17.develop and on brownfield sites? It develop and on brownfield sites? It
:09:18. > :09:22.is one of the ways to increase. There is a lot in the white paper on
:09:23. > :09:26.density. I know when he takes a closer look, he will welcome it. I
:09:27. > :09:30.welcome the Secretary of State's determination to tackle the housing
:09:31. > :09:34.shortage, but he will be aware housing need varies between
:09:35. > :09:40.provincial towns than London and the South East. Can he assure my
:09:41. > :09:43.constituents that the policies and planning guidance will not be
:09:44. > :09:47.focused entirely on London and there will be some allowance for local
:09:48. > :09:55.authorities to vary it in the more all areas? -- rural. I can reassure
:09:56. > :09:59.him on that point. There is a specific requirement in the white
:10:00. > :10:03.paper for local authorities to plan for the needs in their area. If the
:10:04. > :10:07.demographics are different, which they will be, from area to area,
:10:08. > :10:13.that is what needs to be catered for. As a constituency neighbour of
:10:14. > :10:18.mine, he will know that people value the amenity of the green belt around
:10:19. > :10:25.Halesowen. Would he agree with me that when it comes to house-building
:10:26. > :10:32.in the Black Country, it should be brownfield first? Yes, I very much
:10:33. > :10:38.agree with my honourable friend. Land availability is in a sense a
:10:39. > :10:43.side issue because the impediments of expeditious planning consent of
:10:44. > :10:47.the capacity of the planning department and the fact there is no
:10:48. > :10:51.fiscal incentive for planners to grant a mission which is what it
:10:52. > :10:55.takes so long, linked to that, capacity, whether they have the
:10:56. > :10:59.skills, knowledge and experience to do with large-scale planning
:11:00. > :11:04.applications, isn't it time we reviewed the capacity of local
:11:05. > :11:10.authorities to increase planning fees? Mr Speaker, my honourable
:11:11. > :11:14.friend has talked about this before and he has helped with others to
:11:15. > :11:17.make a strong case, as have many local leaders. We have listened and
:11:18. > :11:22.local councils will be able to increase planning fees by at least
:11:23. > :11:26.20%. Local communities are often keen to support housing if they feel
:11:27. > :11:33.the housing is for local need. Does he share the frustration that too
:11:34. > :11:36.often under the 1985 Housing act the homes can then be swapped to someone
:11:37. > :11:40.who does not have the local connection and the apparent easy
:11:41. > :11:53.waving of the agreements which make housing for local need after a very
:11:54. > :11:59.small commission of the market who made down tee turndown people with a
:12:00. > :12:05.local connection whether or not they can afford it? It is important the
:12:06. > :12:09.local connection rules are appropriate and working as we have
:12:10. > :12:14.set out. My honourable friend makes a link to the 106 agreements and we
:12:15. > :12:22.have not made a final decision yet, separate choice separate -- subject
:12:23. > :12:28.to a separate consultation. What is he proposing to do to councils who
:12:29. > :12:35.failed to put in place a local plan? The good news is that the vast
:12:36. > :12:40.majority of councils do have a valid local plan in place. Of course, some
:12:41. > :12:44.still have not met the requirement. The biggest incentive on councils
:12:45. > :12:47.today to do that is while they do not have a local plan, their
:12:48. > :12:56.presumption in favour of the relevant in -- in favour of the
:12:57. > :13:01.relevant applies. People want a plan so they can see where development
:13:02. > :13:06.will take place. Would he confirm that he accepts the neighbourhood
:13:07. > :13:12.plans are an important part of planning and they deliver more
:13:13. > :13:16.houses than expected? I can confirm that and I know they do macro speaks
:13:17. > :13:22.with some experience in this area but the evidence is that so far of
:13:23. > :13:28.the plans adopted on average they are leading to Tim Visser more
:13:29. > :13:31.development than was necessary -- I know my honourable friend speaks
:13:32. > :13:35.with some experience. The excellent white paper, local authorities will
:13:36. > :13:39.have to consider small windfall sites of plan. Could I make a
:13:40. > :13:44.suggestion it is often medium sites that will deliver more housing and
:13:45. > :13:50.community benefits that would get the community to welcome such sites?
:13:51. > :13:54.Can we change and welcome that number? One thing I can highlight I
:13:55. > :14:01.think from the same page in the plan is the requirement that helps just
:14:02. > :14:05.that point, a new requirement, that when local authorities set out their
:14:06. > :14:11.plan, they have to, from now on, allow for at least 10% of the site,
:14:12. > :14:17.minimum 10%, for small and medium-sized builders. Small plot
:14:18. > :14:24.sizes that will particularly appeal to small and medium-sized builders.
:14:25. > :14:26.I am delighted that in January we heard Edinburgh council will be one
:14:27. > :14:33.of the first to benefit from the Government's unlocking the land fund
:14:34. > :14:38.to bring forward homes. The funds. Could he say how the white paper
:14:39. > :14:45.will further help development in constituencies like mine? What he
:14:46. > :14:48.will find in the white paper is a requirement for all local
:14:49. > :14:55.authorities, before they can look at anything other than brownfield, they
:14:56. > :14:58.need to show they have fully exhausted the brownfield
:14:59. > :15:07.opportunities in all of the viable areas but also looking at things
:15:08. > :15:11.like density, for example. Would the Secretary of State agree that when
:15:12. > :15:13.planning permission is given for homes in places like West
:15:14. > :15:20.Oxfordshire it is important developers build them and quickly? I
:15:21. > :15:23.absolutely agree, Mr Speaker, with my honourable friend and that is why
:15:24. > :15:27.he will find in the white paper a number of measures to help tackle
:15:28. > :15:33.just that problem, for example, the changes we made to completion
:15:34. > :15:38.notices. Thank you. Starter homes offer a realistic solution to a
:15:39. > :15:42.difficult to deliver brownfield sites and low levels of home
:15:43. > :15:47.ownership among young people. With a possible change of focus. The homes,
:15:48. > :15:52.is my honourable friend still committed to delivering on the
:15:53. > :16:02.requirement to deliver 200,000 by 2020? What I can tell my honourable
:16:03. > :16:06.friend is that we are committed to delivering at least 200,000 homes
:16:07. > :16:15.for affordable ownership and that 200,000 will include the starter
:16:16. > :16:24.homes with the 20% discounts. Urban sprawl creates excessive pressure on
:16:25. > :16:27.local road infrastructure. It necessitates some stations to have
:16:28. > :16:34.an increased capacity at the car parks. Will he do all he can to
:16:35. > :16:37.ensure we build up and not out, especially walking and cycling
:16:38. > :16:42.distances from established public transport routes? What I can tell my
:16:43. > :16:46.honourable friend is that specifically in the white paper
:16:47. > :16:49.there are measures to help just that, especially around urban
:16:50. > :16:55.transport hubs, public transport hubs, to get a greater density and
:16:56. > :17:01.make much better use of the land. Thank you. I welcome my right
:17:02. > :17:06.honourable friend's white paper. Can he assure me he will ensure
:17:07. > :17:09.developers have to pay more attention to the character of that
:17:10. > :17:12.area around which they are developing because so many are so
:17:13. > :17:17.ugly? People have to live there and they are less likely to object if
:17:18. > :17:20.the development is beautiful. My honourable friend is right to make
:17:21. > :17:26.that point and I think what helps with that is the change we made to
:17:27. > :17:31.allow local authorities to increase the planning fees. The 20% increase
:17:32. > :17:35.is worth 75 million and what many local authorities have told me is
:17:36. > :17:42.that they would like to hire more resources to help with design and
:17:43. > :17:47.this helps to achieve just that. Thousands of homes have been built
:17:48. > :17:53.on brownfield in my constituency but thanks to Labour's excess of 70,000
:17:54. > :17:56.housing target, we are now seeing swathes of green belt under threat.
:17:57. > :18:00.Does the standardised methodology of housing need offer hope to my
:18:01. > :18:08.constituents we can have a housing target review that is realistic? Mr
:18:09. > :18:14.Speaker, I can assure my honourable friend the new methodology, at the
:18:15. > :18:21.heart of it, there is a requirement to be more realistic about housing
:18:22. > :18:24.need. Perhaps he will take reassurance with the words in the
:18:25. > :18:29.white paper around making sure for anyone looks at green belt, that
:18:30. > :18:37.they have exhausted all other reasonable options. One market that
:18:38. > :18:40.never seems to be met is that the bungalows. Perhaps the only truly
:18:41. > :18:46.lifetime property which allows you to free up properties for families.
:18:47. > :18:49.What role does the Secretary of State the bungalows playing in
:18:50. > :18:55.future supply? This is a very important point. This comes back to
:18:56. > :18:58.the new requirement for local authorities to plan for every
:18:59. > :19:05.demographic in their constituency. I am sure my honourable friend has met
:19:06. > :19:09.constituents that live in a large home, children have left, they would
:19:10. > :19:15.love to downsize, but there is not enough choice in the local area.
:19:16. > :19:18.That is a specific requirement to make sure local authorities plan for
:19:19. > :19:23.everyone including local people. I am most grateful to the Secretary of
:19:24. > :19:32.State and colleagues whose saphenous enabled every would-be contributor
:19:33. > :19:39.to take part -- pickiness. Point of order. I think that the only way we
:19:40. > :19:46.can work is to respect the authority of the Speaker. Otherwise there will
:19:47. > :19:51.be complete chaos. It may be that I have my own personal view,
:19:52. > :19:55.personally, I think that the Queen has issued an invitation to Mr Trump
:19:56. > :19:57.on the advice of her ministers and he is the president of the free
:19:58. > :19:59.world and if we