Shaun Bailey criticises Gordon Brown for cost of living comments

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There are 1,614,000 hectares of land in England designated as Green Belt, or 12.4 percent of the total area. According to research by new-build specialists Unlatch, just one percent of that land would free enough space to build just under 600,000 homes, almost two years’ worth of the Government’s target. Building these houses would also be an economic boon, adding an estimated £255billion to the housing market.

The UK as a whole is in the midst of a housing crisis – a severe lack of available and affordable homes.

According to the National Housing Federation, 340,000 new homes need to be constructed each year in England to keep pace with demand.

The 2019 Conservative Party Manifesto set 300,000 a year as a target, but only 216,490 homes were added to the housing stock in the year up to April 2021, according to the Department for Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

Consequently, as property prices have risen ever higher, more people have become trapped in temporary accommodation, fallen into poverty while trying to keep up with payments or even found themselves homeless.

Currently, only eight percent of England’s 13,046,240 hectares of land area is in developed use for houses and infrastructure, according to the DLUHC.

England’s Green Belt areas account for 1,614,000 hectares, or 12.4 percent of the total, as of March 31 2021.

When added to other environmental protection designations such as National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), over 37 percent of the country is protected against development.

According to Unlatch, as the average home requires 275 square metres of space, reassigning just 1% of the Green Belt could deliver 586,814 new homes.

According to the DLUHC, the Green Belt policy’s aim is to “prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open.”

Land is said to be designated as Green Belt in order to stop neighbouring settlements merging into each other and preserve the special character of historic towns, protect the countryside from urban sprawl and encourage the repurposing of derelict land.

Once defined, the National Planning Policy Framework states local planning authorities should use Green Belt land for providing access, enabling sport and recreation activities, embellishing the landscape or improving local biodiversity.

Any development running counter to these specified uses can only be approved in very special circumstances.

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Building houses on Green Belt land has long been an unpopular idea, principally because of misconceptions about what Green Belt land actually looks like.

Far from idyllic countryside woodland and meadows, a large part of it is in fact either poor-quality scrubland, used for intensive farming or is privately owned and inaccessible to the public. 

The restrictive zoning also pushes people out into far-flung commuter belts, increasing traffic and air pollution. 

Lee Martin, Head of UK for Unlatch says: “Building on the green belt isn’t the most popular of opinions and, as a result, the Government has largely turned their back on the idea to prevent public outcry. 

“But the reality is that a great deal of green belt land is wrongly classified as such and utilising it to address the housing crisis would not mean paving over our green and pleasant countryside.”

The largest proportion of Green Belt land is in the South East – a total of 305,600 hectares or 19 percent of the national total – using just one percent of which could yield 111,000 new homes, according to Unlatch’s research.

Building on just 1% of Green Belt land in the West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West could increase the housing stock by over 90,000 homes. 

In the East of England, a similar policy would allow for 84,819 new homes.

Even within London, where just over two percent of England’s Green Belt land falls, reclaiming just one percent could deliver 12,649 houses.

With new-build homes currently worth £434,515 on average according to Unlatch, the total value of building on one percent of the nation’s Green Belt would add just under £255billion to the value of the property market.

Mr Martin added: “It’s clear that the Government has absolutely no desire to build more homes to meet the needs of the nation, instead launching initiative after initiative to fuel demand and keep property values sky high.

“But if they won’t consider the boost to housing stock that just 1% of the green belt could bring, perhaps their ears might prick up at the sound of the £250bn it would add in value?”

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