Lord Jamieson (Con)

My Lords, I also welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Blake, to her role on the Front Bench. It is great to see her. I remember the number of times that we stood on opposite sides in the LGA. We move on, and we are still in the same relative position. I thank the Minister for bringing forward these regulations to make corrective amendments to the levy regulations introduced last year. We recognise the need to make buildings safe—it is important—and the role that the levy plays in that, and the need for clarity. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, who rightly raised the time it is taking to make these buildings safe and that, in effect, people are trapped within them. Recently, on the Social Housing Bill, we raised the issue of shared ownership, which is in a particularly egregious position. We welcome some of the changes: the earlier deadline for the authorities responsible for collecting and administering the levy to notify the person who is liable of an information check. But can the Minister confirm that authorities will have the capacity to meet these earlier deadlines? The Government have also made the decision not to take forward an extended exemption threshold for major residential development in the levy regulations. Can the Minister please expand on the rationale behind this decision? I want to touch on something else, because we have a housing crisis and a shortage of housing, and we are not building enough. The regulations include amending the definition of a previously developed site, whereby 75% of the land has to be previously developed. The SI now clarifies the treatment of fixed-surface type infrastructure and unlawful operations and excludes wholly underground buildings from the definition, as well as underground parts of buildings, from the 75% calculation. As I understand it from the impact assessment, this will result in an increase in charges to developers, as less brownfield land comes within the scope of the 50% discount to the standard rate. I do not know how to interpret that, so I would appreciate it if the Minister could clarify it and the level of the increase. We have said on many occasions, and I believe that there is support across the House, that we should prioritise brownfield development. Ostensibly, this discount prioritises brownfield development. However, given that the levy relates to the value of property, its impact is greater on brownfield sites in urban areas of high value, such as London. While the revised impact assessment suggests that this will be taken off the land value, in practice, much of the additional cost will be factored into the sales price and borne by the purchaser. This is particularly so on brownfield land, where the existing use is obviously not subject to these costs. Indeed, many alternative uses, such as retail, care homes and data centres, would not be subject to this cost.