Speeches by Pennycook.

“The simple answer to that is that it is just a part of the SEA and programme consultation process under the relevant legislation that we have to consider reasonable alternatives. I do not think it undermines the independence of the new towns taskforce. When we established it, we did not say to the independent new towns…”

“We are proposing to take forward seven sites from the new towns 12. As part of the consultation process that we launched yesterday and the SEA, we are obliged to consider reasonable alternatives. In terms of looking at those reasonable alternatives—I think I detailed this to the Committee previously—we looked at the si…”

“There are a number of points. There is no immediate impact on freeholders’ income as a result of these reforms. Where freeholders have taken on very high debts, they will have time to renegotiate with their creditors to find an appropriate way forward. We expect all parties to act in line with their fiduciary duties an…”

“We published it yesterday. With a view to making decisions on final sites and the scope of the programme in the summer, we are now asking for views, in a brief consultation published yesterday, on the programme itself and seven proposed sites to take forward out of the 12 recommended to us by the new towns taskforce. B…”

“We published consultation on the draft programme and the SEA yesterday. Are you aware of that? No, you were not aware.”

“Perhaps I did not explain myself clearly enough. There are a number of outstanding policy questions that we need to answer about how we design the intervention. I mentioned quid pro quo leases as a good example, which I think we flagged with the Committee. What do we do with those? The more complex the intervention bec…”

“I do not want to sound obtuse, but I cannot tell you when the substantive Bill will receive Royal Assent or when each piece of secondary legislation will be enacted; the timelines are variable. In my oral statement when introducing the draft Bill, I gave an estimate of 2028 for some of the provisions, such as those on …”

“I do not think any further consultation is required.”

“It is actually in your gift because you can help me get the Bill through.”

“What is the easiest way to sum it up? That is a big question. Let me approach it by going back to those opening remarks about what we mean by “end”. I take Mr Woodcock’s point about precisely when you switch on some of the provisions, but once this legislation is in place, commonhold will be the default tenure going fo…”

“I absolutely acknowledge that when it comes in is important. It is also important that we get a smooth transition. In the very high-level conversations that I have had with developers—we have had roundtables on this issue—none has said, “Please don’t do this. You will be taking us into a world where we can’t operate.” …”

“I want Rachel and Caroline to have a chance to speak—we can share some of the questions around—but I would probably make three points in response to that. First, there is a very clear rationale for why we picked £250 as the cash cap amount. There are historical reasons in the sense that—although we have changed some of…”

“What do you mean by the take-up?”

“One of the things that we want to get at is that, as I think the Committee would acknowledge, developers and other parts of the market will need time to familiarise themselves with the commonhold model and what that means. This is quite a big transition. That is why we are seeking views on transitional arrangements and…”

“I don’t know whether anything has changed because I don’t know what advice was put to Baron Gove and the previous Government. We have taken advice that I received from officials, including legal opinion, and we have alighted on the policy intervention that we have. To expand on the point, as I said, the shorter the tra…”

“We just have not made a decision yet.”

“Mr Woodcock, I don’t want to give the public the impression that that is our intention. It is not.”

“It is just a matter of common practice that I am not privy to the advice received by previous Government Ministers.”

“As I said—this is what the consultation was designed to elicit—we have to weigh up whether there will be a significant impact on housing supply, for example, which would mean that the transition has to look a certain way, rather than another way.”

“In terms of actually switching on the ban, that decision has not yet been made.”