New Homes

Housing, Communities and Local Government – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 30 April 2018.

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Photo of Sir David Amess Sir David Amess Conservative, Southend West 12:00, 30 April 2018

What progress his Department has made on delivering more new homes.

Photo of Dominic Raab Dominic Raab Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Last year 217,000 new homes were delivered, which is the highest rate in all but one of the last 30 years, but we are restless to do more and get that level up to 300,000 per year by the mid-2020s.

Photo of Sir David Amess Sir David Amess Conservative, Southend West

I join others in welcoming my right hon. Friend the new Secretary of State on his return to Government, and trust that he will not forget his Essex roots.

Conservative-controlled Southend-on-Sea Borough Council is keen to deliver as many new affordable homes as possible, so will my hon. Friend the Minister encourage local authorities to engage with innovative schemes that benefit the wider community, such as ZEDGeneration and the Ferdinand brothers legacy project?

Photo of Dominic Raab Dominic Raab Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

We encourage all ambitious local authorities to be as innovative as possible, and my hon. Friend will know that in 2016 Southend council received £122,000 and Genesis Housing Association £420,000 for the regeneration of the centre of Southend, and that includes Conservative plans for more affordable homes.

Photo of Rachael Maskell Rachael Maskell Shadow Minister (Transport)

City of York Council is about to submit its local plan, but has seriously undercut Government figures for the number of houses to be built and has relied on transport data that is 10 years old. So as the local plan goes through Government processes, will the Minister ensure that parties across the political spectrum, including Labour, can be part of the conversation?

Photo of Dominic Raab Dominic Raab Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

We want York to get its local plan in place; that is the best thing for the community, as it gives certainty and a greater chance of those homes being delivered. A local authority statement of community involvement is an essential part of that process and it will be tested against the statement in due course.

Photo of Mark Prisk Mark Prisk Conservative, Hertford and Stortford

My constituents recognise that we need more homes but are concerned about overstretched infrastructure and public services. What are the Government doing to ensure that those areas that are willing to build the most homes will get the maximum amount of funding for new infrastructure and public services?

Photo of Dominic Raab Dominic Raab Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that is why we have brought forward £5 billion of approved funding for infrastructure funding—both viability funding and forward funding—which will unlock 600,000 new homes. The criteria are calibrated to make sure that the investment goes where there is the greatest demand for homes and where we can deliver the most homes and the best bang for the taxpayers’ buck.

Photo of Ruth George Ruth George Labour, High Peak

When the Minister looks at new housing, will he ensure that it is actually affordable to constituents on average incomes? Will he also look at the position of leasehold homes, which are still being sold in my constituency, in spite of commitments from the previous Secretary of State, because those homes are not affordable on an ongoing basis?

Photo of Dominic Raab Dominic Raab Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The No. 1 way to improve the affordability of homes is to increase the supply, which is why our agenda is to get the number of new homes built per year up to 300,000. I looked at the Labour party’s Green Paper and it seems to suggest going back in the overall number of homes delivered each year. As the Secretary of State has already said, we have delivered more affordable homes in the past seven years than were delivered in the last seven years of the previous Labour Government.

Photo of Richard Bacon Richard Bacon Conservative, South Norfolk

Will the Minister meet me and other members of the Right to Build Expert Task Force—one member is one of his own civil servants—so that we can brief him on the great work it is doing in increasing housing numbers and improving quality and customer choice?

Photo of Dominic Raab Dominic Raab Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. We are keen to see diversity in the housing market. It will be one of the key drivers for building more homes and getting more affordable homes, and I will be happy to meet him in due course.