§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what research his Department has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated in respect of the availability of brown-field sites for the construction of new homes, separately identifying that conducted by local authorities. [16918]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe Department will be going out to tender shortly on research designed to assess the future supply and location of brownfield sites. Also, as part of the Government's overall consideration of the household growth debate, the Government have evaluated several independent studies about housing capacities and location from organisations such as the TCPA, the CPRE, and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Most individual local authorities conduct their own studies of land availability for housing and other development as part of their plan preparation process. These are too numerous and varied in scope to list here. Additionally, a number of broader housing capacity and brownfield land studies have either been, or are being, commissioned by the Regional Planning Conferences to assist them in the process of drafting their Regional Planning Advice to the Secretary of State.