Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had on introducing new duties on local authorities to assess the level of need for wheelchair accessible homes and set appropriate targets in local development plans.

Brandon Lewis

Local authorities are best placed to understand the housing needs in their area. We expect them to work closely with key partners and their local communities in deciding what type of housing is needed.

National policy sets out clearly the need for local authorities to plan for the housing needs of all members of the community and that planning should encourage accessibility. The introduction of optional requirements for accessibility in the Building Regulations provides local authorities with the tools needed to ensure that new homes are accessible and that in particular the needs of disabled people are met.

Local authorities are held accountable for their housing delivery via their Local Plans which are tested by local independent planning inspectors and are scrutinised via yearly Authority Monitoring reports which set out progress on delivery against Local Plan targets. In addition local authorities must determine individual decisions in line with the development plan and other material considerations, such as the National Planning Policy Framework and having regard to viability considerations.