Good news for people who want the government to make it easier to build homes? The papers today carry news that local authorities are proposing nearly half a million (459,000) homes on green belt land, up from 425,000 a year ago. While on the surface more homes at a time of housing shortages might seem like welcome news, there are two problems. According to the report by the Campaign to Protect Rural England, (a) the bulk of it isn’t aimed at struggling first time buyers (b) it risks making Britain’s green spaces an endangered species in the long term.
The report claims that the green belt is being sacrificed to build expensive homes that young families may never be able to afford. Just 22pc of those granted planning permission in the green belt are technically affordable – a category that includes social housing and shared ownership. In the last year alone, the equivalent of 400 football pitches of greenfield land was turned into housing and of it 28pc was classed as affordable – the lowest proportion in eight years. At
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