The vast majority of new housing on the green belt is unaffordable

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England has produced its latest report on the green belt:

Green Belt Under Siege 2017

CPRE's Green Belt Under Siege 2017 report focuses on three themes: 

- the amount of Green Belt land being lost to housing – demonstrated by both local plans and planning permissions granted outside local plans;

- the type of housing built in Green Belt; and

- the impact of the New Homes Bonus on Green Belt.

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• Publication date: July 2017
• Green Belt Under Siege 2017

Green Belt Under Siege 2017 - Campaign to Protect Rural England
Green Belts - Campaign to Protect Rural England

Their findings have been widely reported:
Less than 30% of homes planned for green belt are affordable, says CPRE | Public Finance
Most new Green Belt homes 'out of reach of ordinary buyers' - The i newspaper online iNews

This is the view from Cornwall:


Warning precious Green Belt land is being destroyed to build homes for the rich

By LBarton | Posted: July 03, 2017

Precious countryside land is being used to build homes, but most will not be affordable

Hundreds of thousands of houses are planned for Green Belt land, but the vast majority will not be "affordable" homes, campaigners have warned.

Some 425,000 homes are proposed for land released from the Green Belt under local and regional planning policies, analysis by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) suggests, up 150,000 from its last study in March 2016.

The assessment suggests that more than 70% of those homes will not be expected to be "affordable" – with many representing low density development which feeds the high end of the market and does little to address the housing crisis.

Less than one in six homes built on the Green Belt since 2009 outside the provisions of local plans was affordable, it found.Green Belt – the "countryside next door for 30 million people" which is designated to prevent urban sprawl – is under particular threat in the North West, West Midlands and South East, CPRE's Green Belt Under Siege report revealed.

It also suggests that the Government's "new homes bonus" initiative, which aims to relieve the housing crisis by incentivising local authorities to grant planning permission for new homes, will reward councils with £2.4 billion for the 425,000 homes.

The campaign group warned the initiative was rewarding development of Green Belt land which Government policy aims to protect, without providing much needed affordable housing. Levels of planned affordable housing on Green Belt are particularly low in the North East and West Midlands, according to the report, which is based on local and city-regional planning policies and data from planning consultants Glenigan.

The Government should help councils build again and help fund genuinely affordable homes, including on small rural sites which can be well designed small scale development which provides affordable housing for local needs in the countryside, CPRE said.

The campaign group also wants a focus on building on brownfield land which is suitable for redevelopment in towns and cities.Tom Fyans, director of campaigns and policy at CPRE, said: "Green Belt is being lost at an ever faster rate, yet the type of housing being built now or in the future will do very little to address the affordable housing crisis faced by many families and young people.

"We must not be the generation that sells off our precious Green Belt in the mistaken belief it will help improve the affordability of housing. The only ones set to benefit from future Green Belt development will be landowners and the big housebuilders, not communities in need of decent, affordable housing.

"He said protecting the Green Belt was part of solving the housing crisis, encouraging the focus on the more-than one million homes that could be built on suitable brownfield sites. The Green Belt makes our towns and cities better places to live. It provides quick access to the countryside."The Government must do more to protect it," he urged.

Anne Baxendale, Shelter's director of communications, policy and campaigns, said: "When the greenbelt land cherished by communities is released for housebuilding, let's make sure we do it right and build the homes people actually need. It's vital to build the genuinely affordable homes that people are crying out for, rather than yet more which are out of reach of ordinary families.

"It's clear our current system of housebuilding simply isn't working for the country, and the Government needs to take a bold new approach to building homes which puts people before profits and allows new homes to be built with local communities in mind."

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: "We do not recognise these figures. This Government is committed to protect the Green Belt. Only in exceptional circumstances may councils alter Green Belt boundaries, after consulting local people and submitting the revised local plan for examination. We've been clear that councils must prioritise development on brownfield land, and announced plans to radically boost brownfield development."


Warning precious Green Belt land is being destroyed to build homes for the rich | Cornwall Live
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