Matthew Pennycook MP: speeches

Speeches

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  I have huge respect for the right hon. Gentleman, but it is absolutely incorrect to say that the draft framework proposes a free-for-all in relation to land around railway stations. As I have said, we want to establish, in principle, a default “yes” for development around railway stations within existing settlements, and to extend it to well-connected stations outside. That will provide clarity and confidence that these locations are suitable for growth, with the potential to unlock land for up to 1.8 million homes over the decades ahead. Alongside this, as I have said, we are proposing minimum densities to ensure that land is used effectively. The right hon. Gentleman asked me for a specific radius. It is set out in the framework— [Interruption.] If he will allow me to reply, the definition set out in the framework is “within walking distance”, so about 800 metres. However, as with everything in this framework, we are consulting on what is the appropriate distance around stations, and I am more than happy to take his views and those of any other hon. Member views into account.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman rightly draws attention to the potential to do more on voids and on empty homes more generally, although councils already have quite significant powers to bring empty homes back into use. I say very gently to him, building on my comments about the need to release appropriate green-belt land where necessary to meet housing need, that my concern is less about the instances he described and more about the 1.3 million people languishing on social housing waiting lists and, in particular, the 170,000 children who are today homeless and living in temporary accommodation. We have to build more homes. That requires green-belt land, as well as brownfield land, to be developed.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  It is wrong to say that this is an area that we are overlooking. I refer the hon. Member to a working paper that sets out a series of proposals to get build-out transparency and accountability up. A delayed homes penalty, for instance, would act as a charge when development could be coming forward but is not. Those proposals are distinct from today’s draft framework, which does not deal with that issue, but I can assure him that it is very much a priority for me and for the Department.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  As I have said to other hon. Members in the past, housing targets, under the new standard method we have introduced, will increase in every metro area in the country with the exception of London, which was given a fantastical figure by the previous Government, because they applied the urban uplift—an entirely arbitrary 35%—to every London borough, not just the core centre.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  I have a lot of time for the hon. Gentleman. It sounds to me—I may be guessing here—that he has a specific constituency matter that he might like to discuss with me, and I would be happy to do so.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and he is one of a number of hon. Members on both sides of the House who have called for greater support for swift bricks, which we recognise are a vital means of arresting the long-term decline of the breeding swift population. The new swift brick requirement in the framework will require all developments to include swift bricks in their construction, unless compelling technical reasons prevent their use or make them ineffective. This is a significant strengthening of the expectations already in place, and we expect the end result to be at least one swift brick in every new brick-built house, unless there are legitimate reasons why installation would not be appropriate.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  I do not have the time to go into incredible amounts of detail on why we did not choose to take a statutory approach to national development management policies. Suffice it to say that the approach carried considerable uncertainty and risks. There has been a long debate—I can see Members who served on the Bill Committee—about what a conflict between statutory NDMPs and a local development plan would mean in practice. We were concerned about the chilling effect that might have on the system as a whole, so we have decided to proceed, as I have said, with agile changes to national policy. I remind hon. Members—Opposition Members often complain about this—that national planning policy carries significant weight. Since our December reforms, an unprecedented 80% of major residential appeals relating to grey-belt land have been approved. That is the power of national policy in action, but we will keep the matter under review.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  I confirm to my hon. Friend that the 40% figure is a minimum, not a target. Our proposals recognise that accessibility needs are locally specific, and our changes ensure that necessary levels of accessible housing are provided, while providing authorities with the flexibility to maximise house building overall. Where needs are higher than the mandatory minimum, we are proposing that planning policies should reflect this.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  I refer the hon. Lady to the comments I have already made on how the new draft framework further consolidates and strengthens the expectations around infrastructure provision. Vision-led transport, which is now hardwired through the framework, will make a difference to the challenges she poses, but she is absolutely right that we want to see infrastructure up front, alongside new homes being delivered.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  I am afraid that I fundamentally disagree with the right hon. Gentleman. Mandatory housing targets have an important role to play in a functioning housing and planning system, and we have seen the impact—in nosediving supply—of what happens when anti-supply changes are made to the NPPF. On the specific change that he references, yes, we are changing the referral criteria so that they apply not just to planning applications that might be accepted and that the previous Government wanted to ensure could be blocked, but to planning applications that might be refused and that we might want to see come forward.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  I was very clear that there is more that needs to be done to transform the failing housing system we inherited from the Conservatives. We need greater focus on reform and delivery; that will come next year. The regulatory and planning changes that will be made today—the culmination of 17 months of work to transform our planning system—are absolutely vital. We will come forward in due course with a response to proposals around build-out measures.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  I have visited the developments in my hon. Friend’s constituency that Ebbsfleet development corporation is taking forward. As I said in response to an earlier question, we as a Government are clear that new housing must be supported by appropriate infrastructure and amenities. Last year we made important changes to the framework to strengthen the provision of community infrastructure, and, as I have said, the draft framework consolidates and strengthens the support given to that provision, including public services. However, we know that there is more to do to ensure that the right infrastructure comes forward at the appropriate time, alongside the building of new homes.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  I am aware of the case to which the hon. Member refers. There is considerable pressure on the housing infrastructure budget and the projects that remain within it. I am aware that in respect of this case, which he has raised with me previously, a material amendment has been submitted and is being considered. Obviously I will not comment on that, but I think his point shows that the Government do provide significant amounts of funding support for land and infrastructure across the country to help to ensure that those homes can come forward in the right places, with the right infrastructure and transport connections.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  Absolutely, and we are taking concerted action across the Department, not least through the homelessness strategy that was published in recent weeks. At the heart of how we resolve the problem of temporary accommodation is building more affordable homes, particularly more social rented homes. That is precisely why the £39 billion social and affordable homes programme devotes 60% of its funding to social rented homes.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  The second half of my statement—I hope my hon. Friend will have noticed—is a series of measures, interventions, policy and regulatory easements to get small and medium-sized house builders back on the pitch in a serious way, alongside councils and community-led housing. We need more providers on the pitch, building a diversified house building market. I hope that SME house builders across the country will welcome the package.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  There is a lot in the hon. Lady’s question, but let me say a couple of things. First, we have been clear as a Government that when new housing comes forward, it must be matched with new amenities and infrastructure. We strengthened the policies in the previous framework last year to provide for community infrastructure, but today’s draft framework consolidates and strengthens that even further. She will be interested in the new vision-led transport measures in the framework, again strengthening those provided for last year. We want the appropriate amenities and infrastructure to come with housing, because we want to create not just housing units, but thriving places and neighbourhoods for people to live.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman’s constituents can trust this Government because we are setting out—for consultation, as I continue to stress—a clear definition of what a well-connected station means. As I said in response to the shadow Minister, we have defined it as the top 60 major economic centres based on travel to work areas by GVA, and four trains an hour or two trains in one direction. This covers 60% of train stations across the country, with 40% that are not covered, but we welcome views through the consultation.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  I have referenced before the consolidation and strengthening of the provisions in the framework we published last year in terms of the provision of infrastructure, particularly public service infrastructure. It is local plans, primarily, that should address needs and opportunities around infrastructure, and identify what infrastructure is required and how it can be funded and brought forward, but the reforms we are making through the draft framework will make both plan making and decision making clearer and simpler. I am more than happy to sit down with my hon. Friend to discuss the particular challenges she is facing in her constituency.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  The solution to nutrient neutrality and other similar constraints is the environmental delivery plans delivered through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which the hon. Gentleman’s party voted against.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right: BNG plays a vital role in protecting and restoring nature, while enabling us to build the homes that this country needs. The Government remain fully committed to it as an approach to development, but, as I hope hon. Members will recognise, this is a novel system that was introduced only last year. We have heard from developers, local authorities and ecologists that the system needs to work better for some of the smallest developments, and that there are particular challenges on brownfield land. That is why the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs consulted earlier this year on updates to the system, and why we are today confirming that we will introduce that new exemption—and we think that 0.2 hectares is the right size for it. There is a suite of other simplifications for smaller and medium sites that are not exempted, and DEFRA will consult on whether any acceptable exemptions are appropriate for residential brownfield land.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  As I have said in response to previous questions, we made a series of changes to green belt land designation release in the NPPF last year. These changes have been carried over into the draft framework, with one substantive change, which is to enable appropriate development around well-connected train stations across the country, including in the green belt. What I would advise the hon. Lady to say to her constituents is that we should bring forward appropriate and appropriately dense development around existing public transport infrastructure.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  There are real challenges with housing delivery. I refer the hon. Lady to the proposals on build-out generally that we have outlined and sought feedback on. She is absolutely right in the thrust of her question: we are overly reliant as a country on a handful of volume developers. That is precisely why we are encouraging other providers to get in the game through the package we have announced today for small and medium-sized house builders, so that we can have the diversified house building market that we need to bring forward delivery in the volumes the country requires.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  No.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  I will say two things to the right hon. Gentleman. First, the draft framework we have published today continues to provide the protections for agricultural land that are in place in the NPPF as revised last December, including a preference that development be directed towards areas of poorer-quality agricultural land. On consented sites, he is absolutely right. We want to see more consented sites built out, and that is the whole purpose of our new homes accelerator, which we established to take forward those sites. We published a working paper on build-out transparency, but I am afraid that it remains the case that we have to oversupply consents into the system to drive up the number of houses delivered.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  I will meet the hon. Gentleman and his local authority leader—I am more than happy to set out the Government’s position on green-belt land designation and release—but I gently say to him and other Opposition Members that there is no way of building the volume of homes our country needs on brownfield land alone. There is not enough land on brownfield land registers, certainly not brownfield land that is in the right place and viable to meet that need. We do need to release more land, including green-belt land, but we are doing it in a fair way and starting with grey-belt land first.