Gavin Barwell: The hon. Gentleman will find that if he is patient, his patience will be rewarded. Local authorities have an important role to play in identifying how accessible toilet provision can be supported. They have powers to run and maintain public conveniences — although they are not duty bound to do so—meaning that, where appropriate, they can provide accessible toilets directly. Section 20 of...
Gavin Barwell: That is a good illustration of needs evolving over time and the fact that the building regulations must keep pace with them. It also shows that whatever we do with the building regulations only affects brand-new buildings and those that are refurbished where a retrofitting job needs to be done. I am also pleased to say that we are introducing measures in the Local Government Finance Bill to...
Gavin Barwell: I will be delighted to do that, and my suggestion to hon. Members who want to meet is that it is probably best to wait until we have the research, and to have a meeting when we are at the point of reviewing the regulations. I was talking about the spending power of disabled people. The need to unlock this potential is clear. In March 2015 the Extra Costs Commission found that three quarters...
Gavin Barwell: The Neighbourhood Planning Bill and my recent written ministerial statement will further strengthen neighbourhood planning, ensuring that communities have the ability to shape the development of their area, not speculative development.
Gavin Barwell: I can reassure my right hon. Friend on that point. The Government’s expectation is that plans should be reviewed every five years, but when new data come to light it does not mean that existing plans are automatically out of date.
Gavin Barwell: First, there is the possibility of having neighbourhood plans purely for business district areas, which the hon. Gentleman might want to look at in his constituency. There is also the wider issue of ensuring that we capture the uplift in value when businesses apply for planning permission, and there is a review of the community infrastructure levy and section 106 on my desk at the moment.
Gavin Barwell: I pay tribute not only to the people my right hon. Friend mentions but to him, because he has been a huge champion of neighbourhood planning in Mid Sussex and has spoken about it repeatedly. I hope that my written ministerial statement has helped addressed some of his concerns, but there will certainly be further action in the housing White Paper.
Gavin Barwell: The national planning policy framework is very clear on that point. When local authorities conduct their assessments of housing need, they should not just look at the total number of homes required, but the right mix of housing to cater for the demographic profile including, for example, the number of elderly people who might need specialist housing. The hon. Lady is quite right to draw...
Gavin Barwell: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are far too dependent, at this point in time, on a small number of large developers. Therefore, we need to ensure that the land that has attracted small developers is released and that those developers have access to finance.
Gavin Barwell: Since July, we have announced: a £3 billion fund to support small and medium-sized enterprises; an additional £1.4 billion for affordable housing; a £2 billion accelerated construction programme; a £2.3 billion infrastructure fund; funding for starter homes; and support for 17 garden towns and villages. The White Paper will contain further measures.
Gavin Barwell: I would be delighted. I have attended a meeting of the all-party parliamentary group for the private rented sector, which my hon. Friend also chairs; he is a busy man. He is quite right to say that, as we address the fundamental challenge of getting the country to build the homes we desperately need, we must not lose sight of quality as well as quantity.
Gavin Barwell: I would think that London MPs, Westminster councillors and, indeed, everybody would expect that, as much as possible, local authorities should meet the need to house in their area those who are homeless in their area. Our guidance is clear about that. The fact that some local authorities have to place people outside their areas is an indictment of the failure of the country, over 30 or 40...
Gavin Barwell: My hon. Friend makes an important point, which I am happy to look into. There is a wider issue of ensuring that communities see the benefit of new housing. With the community infrastructure levy and section 106 payments, we must ensure that communities know the benefits that they are getting in return for accepting housing.
Gavin Barwell: The hon. Gentleman is certainly creative. The question was actually about building more homes. I point out to him that, over the course of this Parliament, the Government are doubling the housing capital budget, which will enable more homes to be built in his area.
Gavin Barwell: We are in the process of introducing banning orders for serious offenders, civil penalties of up to £30,000, a database of rogue landlords, and mandatory licensing for smaller HMOs; and we are banning letting agency fees.
Gavin Barwell: We have in the past provided £100,000 of funding to Manchester for this work. I would be delighted to meet the hon. Gentleman. This is a critical area, and we need to drive out the rogue landlords so that decent landlords do not face unfair competition.
Gavin Barwell: I am very happy to give that undertaking, and to meet my hon. Friend if he wishes to discuss these matters in more detail.
Gavin Barwell: I hope we can rise to the challenge. If every local authority was building at the rate that my hon. Friend’s local authority is building, we would be building 370,000 homes a year. That is a sign that it is possible to build the homes that this country needs; it just requires the political will to do it.
Gavin Barwell: Voluntary right to buy provides replacement affordable housing. The hon. Gentleman should be supporting it, because it helps people who could not otherwise own their home to do so and provides new affordable housing.
Gavin Barwell: I absolutely give my hon. Friend that assurance. I congratulate her on championing brownfield land. The new brownfield registers that we are introducing will help to ensure that development is, rightly, focused on brownfield first.