‘Grey belt’ land development won’t help the Government reach its ambitious housebuilding targets

The House of Lords Built Environment Committee has concluded its inquiry into the grey belt policy and has today written to the Deputy Prime Minister. It finds that the policy is unlikely to make any significant difference to the number of new homes that can be built.

The introduction of the grey belt policy had the potential to expand rural settlements and unlock sites on the boundaries of existing communities. By making grey belt land a distinct category and highlighting that this is land that makes a limited contribution to the original Green Belt principles, it might have been possible to mitigate local opposition to such development.

In December, however, the Government published the final NPPF, including a requirement for local authorities to review Green Belt boundaries and propose alterations if they are not able to satisfy their identified need for homes, commercial or other development through other means. These changes, coupled with other ongoing policy developments, are likely to render the concept of grey belt land largely redundant.

Even before the final NPPF was published, there was significant uncertainty about how many dwellings could actually be built on grey belt land: estimates ranged from as low as 50,000, to as high as 4 million. This uncertainty is compounded by the fact that the Government does not have a clear plan to track the progress and assess the effectiveness of its new policies.

The Government appears to lack a sufficient understanding of the implications of introducing multiple intersecting planning policies at the same time, and this compromises its ability to deliver any of its policies in a coherent way.

Even if new homes are built as a result of the grey belt designation, access to public transport infrastructure and social infrastructure, in tandem with environmental considerations, will be crucial in determining the long-term sustainability and viability of such developments. It is not clear how far these considerations have been properly taken into account.

Lord Moylan, Chair of the Built Environment Committee, said:

“Last autumn our committee launched this inquiry into ‘grey belt land’ because the committee believed that this new category could make a positive contribution to meeting housing targets.

“The Government’s policy been implemented in a somewhat rushed and incoherent manner. The committee does not believe that it is likely to have any significant or lasting impact on planning decision-making or helping the Government achieve its target of building 1.5 million new homes by the end of this Parliament.

“In December the Government published the final NPPF and the revisions it has made to the framework have now made the concept of grey belt land largely redundant as land will now be more likely to be released from the Green Belt through existing channels instead.

“The Government also does not seem to have any plan to measure progress or determine the success of this policy. Effective policy must be evidence based and be able to demonstrate its efficacy. Sadly, this is not the case here.”

Other findings and conclusions include:

• Grey belt sites have the potential to support SME housebuilders as the smaller size of some grey belt sites would be less economically attractive to larger builders. However, the affordable housing requirement, although less rigid than the original proposal, still make it financially difficult for smaller firms.
• The committee is concerned that, with the far-reaching changes detailed in the latest draft of the NPPF, local authority planning departments will lack sufficient resourcing and expertise to be able to deliver change at the pace demanded of them. The committee welcomed the extra money announced in the Autumn Budget for local authorities to recruit 300 additional planners, but this will not be enough to make a meaningful impact.
• The introduction of the concept of grey belt land could have the undesirable effect of encouraging ad hoc and speculative applications for development on land within the Green Belt, contrary to the Government’s intention that such land should be released in a planned and strategic manner.
  
  

Read the letter on the commitee's website