Government urged to review green belt land rules ‘to address London’s housing crisis’

The government must carry out an urgent review of the rules around green belt land to help address London’s acute housing crisis, a new report has argued.

With the capital needing 65,000 new homes a year to cope with demand, business group London First, together with consultancy Community Research, convened a jury comprising of 12 Londoners to discuss the green belt.

Both sides of the debate about building on such land gave evidence and a resulting vote found 11 members of the jury agreeing that some form of review of the rules governing the green belt was needed to address what it called “a terrible crisis for housing in London”.

There was what London First called a “strong call” by the jury for any development of green belt land to provide affordable or social housing, and ruling out any options around the right to buy social homes, “because of the perceived adverse impact that this would have on future supply”.

Any housing built on green belt land should be for those in need, the jury decided.

Farming land should be ringfenced from development, the jury said, and communities should have a say in what schemes were delivered in their area.

London First said it did not question the need for green belt land, but argued that local planning authorities should be encouraged to review such spaces on their patch and “consider how [any such land] that is of poor environmental quality, of little or no public benefit and has good connectivity could be re-designated for high-quality, well-designed residential development that incorporates truly accessible public green space”.

Delivering its verdict, the jury said: “The majority was for and we only had one against. We came to that decision as a group as we realised that there is a terrible crisis for housing in London and that there is a big need for affordable and social housing for the people that live in London.”

Jasmine Whitbread, London First’s chief executive, said London’s green spaces needed to be protected, “but this should not mean that low-quality land is safeguarded at all costs. There is nothing green and pleasant about a disused carwash.

“It’s time for the government to review the outdated green belt rules and for politicians across London to start working with their local communities to explore how small sections could be released to support the delivery of more affordable homes.”