Neil Sinden, Director of CPRE London said "It is a huge relief to hear the Chancellor restate the Government's commitment to strong Green Belt protection and ‘making best use of urban land’ in providing new housing.This will require more robust planning powers and greater intervention to get the kind of housing we need where it is most needed and prevent damaging schemes which threaten Green Belt and valued green spaces.  As the Chancellor said there are 270,000 unbuilt homes with planning permission in London and we welcome measures to get those built as quickly as possible.’

A recent report (1) by the London Green Belt Council shows that the threat to London’s Green Belt has doubled over the past year with more than 400 sites there identified for housing.  And in July CPRE London published the report ‘Space to Build’ (2) which shows there is space for more than a million new homes in London and that we don’t need to build on Green Belt to solve the housing crisis.

NOTES

1. ‘The accelerating loss of London’s Green Belt – who is to blame? was published by the London Green Belt Council on October 11. The LGBC is a grouping of about 100 organisations with a concern for the Green Belt around London. These organisations campaign locally against development on Green Belt land and collectively they represent over 50,000 people.
2. Space to Build argues that delivering new homes in London has been hampered by slow build rates and a lack of funding for affordable homes, not, as often suggested, a lack of suitable land. It details a range of opportunities to use suitable wasted space in London, from redeveloping existing single storey buildings into ‘mid-rise’ developments, to reclaiming road space and disused garages, which offer enormous potential for new housing.