Rachel Maclean: The hon. Gentleman brings his considerable knowledge to this matter, but I will take no lectures from him and the Labour party on house building. This Government delivered 242,000 houses in 2019-20—that is the highest level for more than 30 years, including the entire time that the Labour party was in government.
Rachel Maclean: Homes England, as the Government's Housing and Regeneration Agency, play a key role in delivering housing that works for all through the utilisation of a variety of tools and interventions.
Rachel Maclean: The Government completely agree with those comments. We are clear that the community-led housing sector offers significant untapped potential for helping to meet housing need. It is the support and close involvement of the local community that helps secure that planning permission, so that we can build the homes that local people support and can afford to buy.
Rachel Maclean: Yes, my hon. Friend is absolutely right and I thank her for bringing the concerns of her residents to the Floor of the House. We are determined to reform this system. It is a hugely complex reform. I point out to the House that Labour had the opportunity to do this in its 13 years in government and did nothing.
Rachel Maclean: House building is a priority for this Government. We have announced £10 billion-worth of investment in the housing supply since the start of this Parliament, and ultimately, our interventions are due to unlock over 1 million new homes. We are also investing £11.5 billion in the latest affordable homes programme, to provide tens of thousands of new homes across the country.
Rachel Maclean: The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that local authorities should assess the housing need of different groups in their communities, and support delivery of affordable housing to help meet those needs. Government is on target to build around 250,000 affordable homes through the Affordable Homes Programme 2016-23, with around 244,000 new housing starts by March 2023, and a...
Rachel Maclean: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities collects and publishes data on delivery of affordable homes in populations of less than 3,000 people. These data are available in Section I of the Local Authority Housing Statistics dataset, as well as in the accompanying open data. For the years 2011-12 onwards, these data can be broken down by new build and acquisitions.
Rachel Maclean: The hon. Lady is quite right: not just in Bristol, but across the country, pressures on infrastructure are one reason why communities sometimes have concerns about new housing developments. It is right that we are reforming the planning system to make that infrastructure available in advance of developments so that we can deliver the housing the country needs, in Bristol and elsewhere.
Rachel Maclean: It might sound very nice on the hon. Gentleman’s Facebook clip, but if he actually looks at the facts he will find it is Conservative-run councils that have, on the whole, delivered more houses over the last few years in responding to the needs of their constituents, and Labour-run councils that are experiencing significant failures in delivering the houses that their residents need.
Rachel Maclean: This Government is determined to increase levels of affordable housing, and as my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State has outlined already, we are investing £11.5 billion through our Affordable Homes Programme which will deliver tens of thousands of much needed affordable homes right across the country. Additionally, we remain committed to delivering at least as much on-site affordable...
Rachel Maclean: I absolutely support the measures the Minister is putting forward. Does he agree that in a town such as Redditch, which is growing rapidly, we need more housing? We struggle to expand, however, because we just have not got the room. It is therefore right that we are bringing more empty homes back into use to meet the housing need of our young people in our growing town.
Rachel Maclean: ...is aware that Chesterfield Borough Council is under the control of the Labour party, which, with the assistance of significant Government grant funding, is responsible for delivering affordable housing in the area. It is up to Chesterfield Labour party, in control of that council, to work with developers to make sure that planning obligations deliver the houses that local people need.
Rachel Maclean: The simple answer to my hon. Friend’s question is that he is right. The existing legal framework that has been hindering us has had a disproportionate effect on planning permissions and house building when the main source of the pollution lies elsewhere. Overall, this package will be able to deliver house building and extensions in my hon. Friend’s constituency, help the smaller builders...
Rachel Maclean: I do not quite know how to give that a serious response. I have just set out in huge detail all the work backed by public funding—taxpayers’ money—going into delivering the houses that people need up and down the country. As far as I can see, the only people blocking housing development are those such as the hon. Lady, who is objecting to developments in her own constituency.
Rachel Maclean: All licensed houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) are required to comply with mandatory conditions which include a gas safety certificate being presented annually to the local authority; ensuring that a carbon monoxide alarm is installed in any room in the house which is used wholly or partly as living accommodation and contains a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker; and...
Rachel Maclean: The 2004 Housing Act places a duty on local authorities to take enforcement action if they identify an 'crowding and space' hazard at the most dangerous 'category 1' level, as assessed by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). The HHSRS operates by evaluating the potential risk of harm to any actual or potential occupier from their living environment. For crowding and space...
Rachel Maclean: May I welcome the UK Government’s leadership in the fight against Daesh and thank the Foreign Secretary for updating the House? Just as we show leadership in this area, is it not right therefore that we bring forward more leadership in the areas of cyber-security and online radicalisation? Will he update the House with more detail of the measures that are being taken to tackle this scourge...
Rachel Maclean: I commend my hon. Friend for raising that concern in the House and standing up for her constituents. I fully understand that this is a long- running issue involving several parties, including the water utility company and the housing developer. I completely share her and her constituents’ frustration. I would be delighted to ask my noble Friend the roads Minister, who deals with this, to...
Rachel Maclean: I am sure that I speak for all Members in expressing disappointment that the FGM Bill did not receive its Second Reading in the House last week. I am pleased to see that the Government have committed to bring the Bill back in Government time. Will my hon. Friend confirm that her door always remains open for any Member of this House who wishes to discuss what the Government are doing to stop...
Rachel Maclean: I thank my hon. Friend for his determination in bringing forward this innovative measure, which will enable the Government to meet their ambition of delivering the houses that are needed all over our community. He is right to say that local communities should be able to set their own local design codes. That will be a fantastic way for them to create a huge number of houses, building up, out...
