Green Belt Initiative Deemed Ineffective

Key findings

Key points from the committees letter include:

• In 2024, the new Labour government outlined its ambitious plans to address the housing crisis by building 1.5 million new homes. To meet this target, significant changes to the planning system are being made, and the preservation of the Green Belt has been identified as one source of friction which impedes housing development. 

• Published in July 2024, the Government’s draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) proposed designating some areas of the Green Belt as ‘grey belt’ land if they do not sufficiently meet the five defined Green Belt purposes (such as reducing urban sprawl and preserving the character of historic towns). This policy had the potential to release useful land for housing developments. 

• However, the final NPPF, published in December 2024, included revisions to the original proposal that may have rendered the grey belt policy largely ineffective, concludes an inquiry by the Built Environment Committee under the chairmanship of Lord Moylan.  

• The grey belt policy has been introduced at the same time as many other planning policy initiatives, and the interaction of these policies is creating uncertainty for developers, landowners, and already overstretched local authorities.  

• There is also significant uncertainty about the potential number of homes that could be built on grey belt land, with forecasts ranging from 50,000 to 4 million. Moreover, the Committee was concerned that there was no mechanism for tracking progress against the Government’s target of 1.5 million new homes over the next five years.

• The sustainability of housing developments on grey belt sites is crucial to their success, although clear definitions of sustainable locations and modes of transport are missing from the final NPPF. The proximity of grey belt developments to public transport is of particular concern to those who gave evidence to the Committee, but the NPPF does not give sufficient detail on its plans for connectivity and transport infrastructure around these sites. 

• The Committee found that, in principle, the original grey belt proposal had the potential to make a significant contribution towards meeting the Government’s housing targets. However, the cumulative impact of other recently introduced planning policy initiatives, is likely to result in the grey belt policy having only a marginal impact at best. 

Chair’s comments 

Lord Moylan, Chairman of the Built Environment Committee during the inquiry, 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.” 

Source: UK Parliament