Local councils to give evidence to Lords housing demand inquiry

The session will cover the planning system, social housing and local government skills shortages. It will be streamed on Parliament TV.

At 10am the Committee will hear from:

• Pooja Agrawal, Chief Executive Officer, Public Practice
• Grant Butterworth, Head of Planning, Leicester City Council
• Cllr Ed Turner, Deputy Leader of the Council, Oxford City Council.

Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:

• What can be done to ensure there is a good balance of different types of new homes where they are needed across the UK?
• Would the introduction of a zone-based planning system through Local Plans in England help meet housing demand?
• Does the figure of 90,000 new homes per year for social rent accurately reflect demand for new social housing?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Government’s proposed Infrastructure Levy to replace Section 106 Agreements and the Community Infrastructure Levy?
• How can skills shortages in Local Planning Authorities be addressed?

More about this inquiry 

The Built Environment Committee is considering the key factors shaping the type, tenure and quality of housing needed in the UK. It is looking at a range of challenges to meeting housing demand including skills shortages in the construction industry and some specific aspects of the planning system.    

The Committee’s work can be followed on its website and via Twitter.

In its last session, the Committee took evidence from: David Birkbeck, Chief Executive Officer, Design for Homes; Professor Ricky Burdett CBE, Professor of Urban Studies and Director of LSE Cities and Urban Age, London School of Economics and Political Science; and David Orr CBE, Chair, the Good Home inquiry, Centre for Ageing Better. You can watch the session here.