Housing (Planning) (Hansard, 17 July 2003)

§ The Minister for Housing and Planning(Keith Hill)

The Communities Plan sets out this Government's vision for sustainable communities where everyone has the opportunity to be decently housed, in a prosperous community, with a good quality of life. This Statement concerns the planning system's role in providing sufficient, and better designed, homes to meet the variety of housing needs in England, and clarifies aspects of the Government's policy for planning new housing set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 3 (PPG3). Together with the measures in Budget 2003 which it complements, it is an important part of the process to enhance the flexibility of our housing market and planning system, and thereby help secure the changes which are required to meet the tests for membership of the Euro-zone. The intention is to remove barriers to delivering the housing needed in our communities and ensure the planning system is not a brake on an adequate and continuing supply of sites for housing in sustainable locations.

Local authorities should: enable the provision of sufficient new homes in the right place at the right time and avoid arbitrarily phasing new housing development; provide for at least ten years potential supply of housing; put unneeded employment sites back into use through actively considering residential development; promote sustainable residential environments; be flexible on car parking requirements; improve the contribution development makes to securing affordable homes and ensure the size and type of housing better matches the need; take responsibility locally for delivery.