To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will issue guidance to local authorities on the provision of short-term supply of land within their control for housing in the event of numbers of new housing starts falling; and whether the number of new housing starts in an area should be a material consideration in planning appeals relating to possible sites for new houses.

Planning Policy Statement 3 Housing (PPS3) requires local planning authorities to identify sufficient specific, deliverable sites to deliver housing in the first five years, as part of a 15-year plan period horizon. The policy advises how local planning authorities need to regularly monitor housing performance against trajectory and that in circumstances where market conditions have changed, local authorities may find it necessary to reassess need and demand, considering a review of approach across the whole market area. PPS3, including those policies relating to whether the local authority has an up to date five year supply of deliverable sites, is capable of being taken into account by local planning authorities, the Planning Inspectorate Agency or other relevant decision maker, in determining planning applications.