The Green Belt
remains under severe pressure, despite government commitments to its
protection, according to a new report from the Campaign to Protect Rural
England (CPRE).
CPRE’s annual State
of the Green Belt report highlights that there are currently 460,000 homes
being planned to be built on land that will soon be released from the Green
Belt.
Moving Green Belt
boundaries when reviewing local plans makes it easier for local authorities to
release land for housing, but is only supposed to take place under ‘exceptional
circumstances’. This strategic shrinking of the Green Belt, as a way of getting
around its protected status, is as harmful as building on the Green Belt
itself.
The report also
demonstrates that building on the Green Belt is not solving the affordable
housing crisis, and will not do so. Last year 72% of homes built on greenfield
land within the Green Belt were unaffordable by the government’s definition.
Of the 460,000 homes
that are planned to be built on land that will be released from the Green Belt,
the percentage of unaffordable homes will increase to 78%.
CPRE warns that this
release of land looks set to continue, as one third of local authorities with
Green Belt land will find themselves with an increase in housing targets, due
to a new method for calculating housing demand. The London (Metropolitan) Green
Belt will be the biggest casualty.
Tom Fyans, Director
of Campaigns and Policy at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said:
"We are being sold a lie by many developers. As they sell off and gobble
up the Green Belt to build low density, unaffordable housing, young families go
on struggling to afford a place to live. The affordable housing crisis must be
addressed with increasing urgency, while acknowledging that far from providing
the solution, building on the Green Belt only serves to entrench the issue.
"‘The
government is failing in its commitment to protect the Green Belt – it is being
eroded at an alarming rate. But it is essential, if the Green Belt is to fulfil
its main purposes and provide 30 million of us with access to the benefits of
the countryside, that the redevelopment of brownfield land is prioritised, and
Green Belt protection strengthened."
There is currently
enough brownfield land in England to accommodate more than 1 million homes.
CPRE urges the government and local authorities to ensure that this is
redeveloped before any more greenfield land is released from the Green Belt.
Local authorities with Green Belt land have enough brownfield land for over
720,000 homes, the report finds, much of which is in areas with a high need for
housing and existing infrastructure.
In addition to a
push for a genuine ‘brownfield first’ approach to development, CPRE are also
calling on the government to:
- retain its commitment to
protect the Green Belt by establishing long-term boundaries
- halt speculative development
in the Green Belt
- develop clear guidance for
local authorities on housing requirements to protect designated land
- support the creation of new
Green Belts where local authorities have established a clear need for
them.
