I thank all noble Lords, particularly the noble Lord, Lord Best, for raising this issue. As he is aware, we have been in regular correspondence on this issue. Before going any further, however, I would like to join the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, in welcoming back the noble Baroness, Lady Wilkins, to her rightful place in your Lordships’ House. I, too, welcome her contribution here this evening.
The noble Lord, Lord Best, has rightly set out his concerns about the way in which the proposed building regulations’ optional requirements will operate, particularly in relation to issues of access. Let me say that the Government understand these concerns. I have written to the noble Lord with reassurances about the clause, explaining how the evidence gathering will work. I assure
your Lordships that we will be issuing planning guidance shortly, to help authorities assemble evidence to use the new optional requirements. I hope that the letters that I have written to the noble Lord, Lord Best, have provided that level of reassurance, but I think it is important that I summarise some of the key points that have been raised in his questions.
Let me just put the amendment into context. In this particular context, we believe that the amendment is not needed, because Clause 31(4) is merely a general fallback power, a reserve power enabling the Government to use regulations to set out conditions for the way in which optional requirements should be used, but only if necessary. They might be necessary, for example, if the system is being misused in some way, or used without sufficient rigour; or if there are problems applying the new regulations. It could be that the guidance proposed does not have the effect expected or is not followed. The new system is based on an approach no different from how local planning authorities gather evidence to justify planning policies now. For the benefit of noble Lords, I will set out the key points about how it will work.
Optional requirements will allow local authorities to set building standards that are higher than those in the building regulations. They are a new concept in building regulations, and are widely supported following our consultation on this matter. They are an important new tool, which I am sure noble Lords will agree should be used appropriately. For the first time ever, we have put a series of housing standards into the building regulations, such as on lifetime homes and wheelchair housing. Giving these areas the full force of building regulations is a major new step that I hope will be welcomed by all noble Lords.
However, because not every new home needs to be built to such standards, and because it is costly to do so, we will let local authorities decide how to target the standards based on local needs, provided the standards do not make local housing developments unviable. The Government intend to issue planning guidance on matters to be taken into account by local authorities to work out their local needs, such as the proportion of older or disabled people. We consulted on the matters to be covered in that guidance. This will mirror the approach taken with planning guidance which supports the National Planning Policy Framework.
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Clause 31(4) simply provides a back-up power for the regulations we are putting in place to set the new system up. In many respects it is no different from other aspects of the building regulations which set out how local authorities should discharge their functions as a building control body. If the Government decide to put planning conditions in regulations under Clause 31(4), and I assure the House that we have no plans to do so, they will be subject to full consultation with interested parties, as we do with all changes to building regulations. It would be wrong to remove this power because we cannot anticipate all the potential ways the new optional requirement system is going to be used, and we need to have the tools available to address any problems.
On conditions applying to access requirements, I have written to the noble Lord, Lord Best, about the types of evidence an authority may reasonably be asked to assemble to justify applying these new optional requirements. I shall lay out some of the Government’s position in this regard, based on the questions that the noble Lord asked. The key point, set out in the National Planning Policy Framework, is that authorities should plan for the current and future housing needs of a wide range of households, including older and disabled people. Authorities should base their assessment on key demographic and population information for their area and a housing needs assessment. This should take account of, first, the likely future need for housing for older and disabled people, including wheelchair-user dwellings; secondly, whether particular sizes and types of housing are needed to meet specific needs, for example, retirement homes, sheltered homes or care homes; thirdly, the accessibility and adaptability of the existing housing stock; and finally, the overall impact on viability.
The Government recognise that we have an ageing population and that there are households with varying forms of specific support needs. We are also committed to ensuring that we support people in their desire to continue to live in their own homes, but it will be down to local authorities to determine their local needs. We cannot say what each area will conclude. Planning guidance already contains useful data sources in this respect, but we are offering to set out in one place further useful data sources which planning authorities can draw from to inform and undertake their assessments to support their policies. This will reduce the need for councils to replicate elements of the work and will reduce assessment time.
The noble Lord, Lord Best, asked a question about viability. I should stress that this is not a new policy. The National Planning Policy Framework set this policy out clearly in 2012, and it applies to a range across the planning system. When setting new policies, authorities are expected to consider the cumulative impact of those policies across the lifetime of the plan. They should not impose a burden that stops development happening. There will be many claims on viability, not just accessibility policies, so we are letting local authorities be the best judge of the right policy mix in the light of their local policy priorities. If they wish to prioritise access issues, which we hope they will, they are at liberty to do so.
In a recent exchange of letters with the noble Lord, I was asked about how existing policies in plans will be treated under the new system. Last year, we consulted on an idea to permit existing standard policies in plans to continue to apply. We intend to implement this approach, although after a six-month transitional period existing policies must use these policies as a basis for applying standards as set out in the new optional requirements. This policy will also apply to standards expressed in the supplementary planning guidance, provided that the SPGs are firmly based on local plan policies.
Given the importance of this area, I can assure the noble Lord, Lord Best, that the Government are in the process of commissioning further research to investigate and improve the evidence underpinning the accessibility of the existing stock and the needs of different sectors
of the community. This will consider how needs are likely to change over time to meet the needs of an ageing and widely diverse population. We will also be keeping under review how the new policy is being implemented.
The noble Baroness, Lady Wilkins, and my noble friend Lord Shipley asked questions on the needs test and whether it will make it harder for authorities to apply access standards. The short answer to that is absolutely not. There is no change to what authorities should do now to justify standards. They have to provide evidence now, and that will remain exactly the same. The noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, talked about neighbourhood plans, the application of space standards and optional regulations. We have consulted on that idea, but there is no final decision on that issue.
The amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Best, has given the Government an opportunity to lay out and, I hope, clarify the concerns and the issues he has raised. I hope I have provided reassurance that the system is robust and a positive move forward. Based on those reassurances, I hope that the noble Lord will withdraw his amendment.