The consultation into the draft New Towns Programme closed earlier this year. The government continues to make progress with the programme and plans to publish our consultation response, and confirm the New Town locations, later this year.

The government remains committed to delivering 1.5 million homes over this Parliament. Each new town will deliver at least 10,000 homes, with many expected to exceed that figure. The Taskforce recommended that new towns should aim for at least 40% affordable housing, with half for social rent.

The government is considering the Taskforce's recommendations and will respond in due course.

My department has made no specific assessment. However, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out that planning policies and decisions should recognise and address the needs of different sectors, including data centres. In determining appropriate locations, the NPPF is also clear that the impacts of the local environment must be considered. Decision makers will need to consider both of these factors when determining whether specific locations, whether greenfield or previously developed land, are appropriate.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, we consulted on a new NPPF. That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals relating to how data centres should be planned for.

We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.

The Government has not set discrete targets for rooftop and ground-mounted solar by 2030.

However, modelling suggests that, even in the most ambitious scenarios, only up to 0.4% of UK land (0.6% of agricultural land) would be devoted to solar in 2030.

Planning guidance makes clear that, wherever possible, developers should utilise brownfield sites. Where the development of agricultural land is shown to be necessary, lower-quality land should be preferred. Each project is subject to a rigorous planning process, in which any impact on land use or food production is considered.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that planning policies and decisions should plan positively for the provision and use of community facilities, such as places of worship. It is for local planning authorities to make decisions on individual development proposals, and the government does not collate information on proposals to provide new places of worship as part of these.

The government is consulting on a new NPPF that includes clearer, more ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making, designed to make planning policy easier to use and underpin the delivery of faster and simpler local plans. The consultation includes policies to support the provision of places of worship, including where a development proposal for housing, employment or other development would give rise to significant numbers of additional people living in, working in or visiting an area.

We are inviting views on these proposals through the consultation, which is available here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that significant weight should be placed on the importance of new, expanded or upgraded public service infrastructure when considering proposals for development.

The government is consulting on a new NPPF that includes clearer, more ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making, designed to make planning policy easier to use and underpin the delivery of faster and simpler local plans. The consultation includes policies supporting the delivery of new and improved community facilities and public service infrastructure serving new development, setting out that planning conditions and obligations should be used to secure the timely delivery of community facilities and public service infrastructure required to serve new development, so that these facilities are available for use when the development (or an agreed proportion of the development) is first occupied or comes into use.

We are inviting views on these proposals through the consultation, which is available here (attached) and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.

The government is consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which includes a revised presumption in favour of sustainable development and new policies on development inside and outside settlements. These changes aim to provide for a more certain and rules-based approach to managing development and to steer it towards the most appropriate locations. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.

In the absence of an up-to-date local plan, there is a high likelihood that development will come forward on a piecemeal and speculative basis, with reduced public engagement and fewer guarantees that it will make the most of an area’s potential. It is for these reasons that we have been clear that we intend to drive local plans to adoption as quickly as possible with a view to achieving universal local plan coverage. In the new plan-making system that will come into force early next year, local plans will be expected to be prepared and adopted within a 30-month timeframe and be more frequently prepared so that plans are kept up-to-date.

On 28 September 2025, the government published the independent New Towns Taskforce report as well as its initial response to that report. Both can be found on gov.uk here.

As set out in the initial government response, we warmly welcome all 12 of the locations it has recommend. Prima facie, each has the clear potential to deliver on the government’s objectives, with Tempsford, Crews Hill and Leeds South Bank looking particularly promising as sites that might make significant contributions to unlocking economic growth and accelerating housing delivery.

On 28 September 2025 we commenced a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to understand the environmental implications of new towns development. This will support final decisions on precisely which locations we take forward. No final decisions on locations will be made until that SEA concludes and preferred locations could change as a result of the process.

Ministers and officials will now begin work with local partners to develop detailed proposals and enhance our understanding of how different locations might meet the government’s expectations of what a future New Towns Programme can deliver, with all promising sites and reasonable alternatives assessed and considered through the SEA process. Appropriate assessment under the Habitats Regulations will also be undertaken when required.

We are determined to get spades in the ground on at least three new towns in this Parliament and the government is prepared to progress work on a far larger range of locations if it proves possible.

The post-war new towns programme was the most ambitious town-building effort ever undertaken in the UK. The next generation of new towns must match that post-war vision. The government will be looking for assurance that any location can be effectively and efficiently delivered in partnership with local communities, has a clear economic purpose, and will support national economic growth. We will also seek to test different delivery vehicles to learn lessons for how future large settlements are delivered and to contribute to a wider transformation of housing supply.

The government will publish the draft proposals and final SEA for consultation early next year, before confirming the locations that will be progressed as new towns later in the Spring alongside a full response to the New Towns Taskforce’s report.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that planning policies and decisions should give substantial weight to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements for homes and other identified needs.

It is for the decision maker, the local planning authority and/or an Inspector acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, to make planning decisions in accordance with the relevant local development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

The NPPF is a material consideration, and it is for the relevant decision maker to decide the weight to give to relevant policies in light of the specific facts and circumstances of any given case.

The department does not hold data on Metropolitan Open Land, which is entirely a matter for the Mayor.

The information requested is not recorded in that form. However, our general statistical estimates do record the hectarage of Green Belt land within each local authority that is in Non-Developed Use and Developed Use. These are available here.

For other information on Metropolitan Open Land and Green Belt, I refer the Noble Lord to the answer in the other place to Question 53097 of 28 May here.

The National Planning Policy Framework defines previously developed land (brownfield land) as land which is, or was, occupied by a permanent structure and any associated fixed surface infrastructure.

However, the definition explicitly excludes land in built-up areas such as residential gardens, parks, recreation grounds and allotments.

As such, allotments do not fall within the category of previously developed land and are therefore considered greenfield.

The definition of previously developed land is set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The definition sets out some specific exceptions, including residential gardens in built up areas. The Government’s proposed reforms to the NPPF include relaxing the restrictions that are currently applied to Previously Developed Land (PDL) and limited infilling in the Green Belt in paragraph 154g of the current NPPF, to make clear that development is ‘not inappropriate’ where it would not cause substantial harm to the openness of the Green Belt. The requirements of our golden rules are intended to apply to release of PDL.

The Minister will be aware that Labour-run Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council has recently given the go-ahead for developers to build hundreds of new homes at Highfield Park in Maltby on land that has always been greenfield. What he might not be aware of is that the developer has given thousands of pounds to the local Labour party, which none of the councillors voting on the issue declared. What can he do to ensure that such greenfield sites are not wantonly given over to developers?

I am sorry to hear about the challenges that my hon. Friend has seen in Rother Valley. It is one reason that more Conservative councillors need to be elected on to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council for the future. We are absolutely aware that there are challenges. We need to build more houses and in the right place, and the best way to do that is by getting a local plan in place, and by the councils that are responsible for that engaging properly with their communities about it.