What is the ‘gray belt’ and what number of properties might Labour construct?

A planning system overhaul has been unveiled by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner as a part of the brand new authorities’s pledge to ship 1.5 million properties over the subsequent 5 years.

Under the plans, some low-quality inexperienced belt land might be freed as much as turn into a part of a ‘gray belt’ to permit new properties to be constructed.

The authorities has beforehand described the gray belt as “poor quality and ugly areas” on components of protected land, known as the inexperienced belt.

Established greater than 70 years in the past, the inexperienced belt covers about 13% of England. It was designed to restrict the expansion of enormous built-up areas, and to cease massive cities merging into each other.

Under the Labour authorities’s plans, if a council’s housing targets can’t be met some current inexperienced belt land might be re-designated as gray belt. This will unlock land for the development of latest properties.

New guidelines would require half the dwellings constructed within the gray belt to be reasonably priced properties.

Labour has beforehand pointed to a disused storage in Tottenham, north London, for example of a inexperienced belt web site that can’t be developed into housing due to its designation.

The authorities’s definition of the gray belt consists of land on the sting of current settlements or roads, in addition to outdated petrol stations and automotive parks. But it is going to be as much as particular person councils to resolve what might be designated as gray belt.

Under the present guidelines, it is vitally laborious to construct on the inexperienced belt. Applicants must show very particular circumstances to justify planning permission.

The authorities additionally says that brownfield websites – outdated industrial or already built-on land – ought to be prioritised over the gray belt.

As the gray belt might be a brand new class, there isn’t a official knowledge on how a lot of it exists.

However, property agent Knight Frank has beforehand carried out its personal evaluation.

It has recognized 11,000 beforehand developed websites, making up lower than 1% of the prevailing inexperienced belt.

The websites are primarily concentrated within the south of England with simply over 40% inside the London inexperienced belt space.

In whole, 100,000-200,000 new household properties could possibly be constructed on the websites in keeping with Knight Frank.

Nevertheless, Sam Stafford from the Home Builders Federation believes that constructing on each the gray belt and extra brownfield websites in city areas might be obligatory to satisfy England’s housing wants.

“There just isn’t the land within major towns and cities to meet the housing need in its entirety,” he mentioned.

To help his declare, Mr Stafford factors to a 2022 report by planning consultancy Lichfields which discovered that even when each recognized brownfield web site in England was constructed to its full capability, that might imply 1.4 million additional properties.

That is lower than the housing goal of each main events forward of the election. Labour pledged 1.5 million new properties in England and the Conservatives 1.6 million.

Labour says the gray belt developments should provide 50% reasonably priced housing. This consists of properties which are let at the very least 20% under native market rents.

However, Charlie Hart from Knight Frank says this could possibly be laborious to realize as inflation has considerably pushed up prices for builders.

Katie Townsend from the Centre for London assume tank says that though the plan is for gray belt properties to be constructed by personal builders, the federal government ought to take into account stepping in.

“The best way to ensure affordable houses are built, particularly socially rented homes, is to increase government investment”, she says.

Labour floated the concept of making the gray belt lengthy earlier than the election.

When Sir Keir Starmer talked about it over a yr in the past, then prime minister Rishi Sunak dominated it out as he “wanted to make sure our green spaces are protected”.

Building on the inexperienced belt is controversial.

However, Ms Townsend of the Centre for London says attitudes is likely to be shifting, pointing to polling displaying half of Londoners supported constructing strategically on low-quality areas of the inexperienced belt, with solely 19% in opposition to it.

Others disagree. Countryside charity CPRE Oxfordshire, for instance, says land is “already under enormous pressure”.

Its director Helen Marshall says: “Ten years ago we commissioned research which showed that over 70% of Oxfordshire wanted the green belt to remain undeveloped.

“Ten years later help for the inexperienced belt has elevated to over 80%.”

However, Mr Hart of Knight Frank says that while the green belt used to be seen as a “don’t go zone”, perceptions are shifting.

“It was conceived a protracted very long time in the past and the world is a really totally different place and we’re now reviewing whether or not it’s match for goal within the trendy world.”

Additional reporting by Gerry Georgieva