Contributions
675 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDCouncil HomesWe believe in home ownership. The right to buy has helped 2 million people get on the housing ladder. Since 2010, nearly 600,000 households have been helped to purchase a home…13 Jan 2020HANSARDCouncil HomesObviously, this is a devolved matter, but I want to look at what this Government have done. We have delivered many more affordable homes—nearly 460,000. That is what this…13 Jan 2020HANSARD Housing Succession PolicyIt is indeed an honour to be answering this debate—the very last debate that you will chair, Mr Speaker. In that regard, it is quite an occasion. Many of us will only know you as…31 Oct 2019HANSARD Housing Succession PolicyThe hon. Lady raises a good point. As she rightly says, some authorities are doing this very well, but perhaps, in her circumstance, that has not necessarily happened. I will…31 Oct 2019HANSARDLeasehold and Commonhold ReformDuring the leasehold and commonhold reform Westminster Hall debate on 2 October, I pledged to sett out in full the actions the Government are taking on leasehold and commonhold…31 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsBut if those sites have not been developed, they will be. We will speed those up. If they are not built, there can only be a future development. We will look at those sites,…30 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsI can reassure the right hon. Lady that we have set up an inter-ministerial group. She is quite right that we should not, and do not, work in silos. All of these things need to be…30 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsThe hon. Gentleman knows that I will not let an unfair representation of what is happening in employment go unchecked. We are at record low unemployment in this country, and at…30 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsThe right hon. Lady is correct. I have meetings all the time to discuss that, as I did when I was Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when I was constantly working on how to…30 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsThe right hon. Lady knows much about that, and I pay tribute to the work that she has done in that sphere, getting the apprenticeship levy and working on high-calibre…30 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsThis Government have helped support the building of more homes in the past year than all but one of the past 30 years, so I do not want the hon. Gentleman to paint an untrue…30 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsWe are supporting housing in all different ways in order to get the homes we need. As I said, we have done a considerable job so far. How do we work with people? We are not…30 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsI will take that away and look into the scheme to see where it is and I will write to the right hon. Lady with an answer. The HIF is all about unlocking developments and finding…30 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsI am not sure about retrospective powers. We would have to look at their impact, but we could certainly go forward with what we see we need to do.30 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsThat is where the accelerated planning Green Paper will come in, because it will provide the blueprint to overhaul the planning system to create a simpler, fairer system that…30 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsI am glad that the right hon. Lady did not want me to reveal what is in the manifesto, particularly as I am not writing it, which would make revealing what was in it difficult.…30 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsWhat we are doing is bringing forward an accelerated planning Green Paper. There will be not just a single solution that ensures that developers build out; there will be an array…30 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsThere is an element of the developments having to be done at a scale that then brings down cost and adds to affordability. That is what we are addressing through schemes such as…30 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsThat is exactly what we have to do: open up the whole building sector and industry. We continue to have traditionally made homes—the latest figures from 2015 show that 90% are…30 Oct 2019HANSARDBuilding Out Extant Planning PermissionsThat is exactly what we are doing: looking at homes for the future and what we need to do for the future. This is coming into play now.30 Oct 2019