To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will encourage local authorities to identify brown-field sites for new housing wherever possible; and if he will make a statement. [10525]

The Government already encourage local authorities to reuse previously developed land for housing wherever possible. Some of these sites arise from redevelopment opportunities which cannot always be foreseen, which means that they cannot always be identified in advance. It is therefore important that local planning authorities have clear policies in their development plans that encourage the reuse of previously developed land for housing, particularly within urban areas. This is also an issue that was raised by respondents to last November's Green Paper on household growth; we are currently considering all the responses received.