Oral QuestionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

“Whether he has plans to enable local authorities to impose (a) business rates and (b) council tax on owners that have planning permission for land that has yet to be developed.”

Tabled: 24 March 2020Answered: 30 March 2020

Answering Minister

the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government

Answer from Hansard

The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)

This Government are determined to achieve high and sustainable rates of house building, which is precisely why we have undertaken the most rapid, holistic and radical overhaul of the housing and planning system in decades. The headwinds are without question severe, but there are encouraging signs of progress, not least the 15% increase in housing starts that we saw over the last 12 months, ending in June this year.