Policy Exchange: 2% of green-belt for 8 million homes

Published by 24publishing for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government, Development

Building on just 2% of the green-belt could provide 8m homes, according to the Government's favourite think tank.

Policy Exchange - which was set up in 2002 by Nick Boles, the MP appointed planning minister in last week's reshuffle - articulated its ideas in a new report, 'Why Aren't We Building Enough Attractive Homes?'.

The report addresses England's inability to build enough homes and why development is "often mediocre", and claims that the problem lies in a "deeply flawed land planning system".

Finding that "house prices are really about land prices," the report claims that the land market is "more like a command economy," and blames the problem on the fact that council plans control land use.

The report's author, Alex Morton, claims that 6-10% of England has been developed and that 2.3% has been 'concreted over'. By releasing 2% of the green-belt for development, Morton believes that 8m new homes could be delivered. It is a "myth", says Morton, that there is enough brownfield land to cover the housing deficit. He writes: "Such derelict land exists for 1m homes but this is only a few years supply, and is in areas we need it less. London has such land for just 30,000 homes."

The report takes a focus on NIMBYs and their resistance to green-belt development. It concludes that NIMBYs have been insulted for the last 20 years when their grievances should have been listened to. NIMBYs have "genuine complaints" that revolve around protecting the value of their properties. PE recommends a system of compensation for those affected by developments near their homes.