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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department issues on housing renewal in former industrial areas and the replacement of dilapidated housing when it no longer meets the needs of the local community.

Brandon Lewis

The current government is committed to increasing the supply of new housing, including through £8 billion announced at the spending review to support the delivery of 400,000 affordable homes and the £140 million to kick start estate regeneration.

We announced at Spending Review that £2 billion in loans will be made available to invest in infrastructure needed for major housing developments. We would expect at least 50% of this funding to support housing on brownfield sites. Full bidding guidance will be available when the fund is launched.

In addition, the National Planning Policy Framework sets out the expectation that local planning authorities should identify and bring back into residential use empty housing and buildings in line with local housing and empty homes strategies. Planning applications for change to residential use from commercial buildings in areas where there is an identified need for additional housing should be approved provided that there are not strong economic reasons why such development would be inappropriate.