Building on green belt land is now “inevitable”, says Aston Mead

Leading land agent Aston Mead says that campaigners in favour of maintaining the green belt need to accept that some of it will have to be built on, if a solution is to be found for the UK housing crisis.

The company’s comments come after the release of a report from the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), which claims to have uncovered blueprints for more than 123,000 homes on 203 sites on protected green belt land around London. The group says that most of them “are allocated in Local Plan documents, so the threats are real”.

Aston Mead Land & Planning Director Adam Hesse said: “It’s time that campaign groups like the CPRE stopped making knee-jerk reactions to every proposed bit of building on green belt land – especially when some of these Local Plans haven’t even been adopted.

“First of all it’s important to correct the misconception that green belt land has an inherent ecological or agricultural value – it doesn’t. Nor was it chosen because it has natural beauty or protected wildlife.

“The truth is that there are different ‘grades’ of greenbelt out there – some of which should be protected at all costs. But there’s a lot of what I call ‘grubby’ greenbelt – especially around road junctions and train stations – which most people would be surprised to discover was even considered to be green belt in the first place.”

Adam Hesse points to a particular case of greenbelt land in Surrey, which he suggests contains all the right ingredients for planning permission to be obtained, and is a prime contender for the sort of location where new homes might even enhance the area.

He explains: “For example, there’s a patch of land near Junction 11 of the M25. There are over 20 acres of ‘grubby’ greenbelt there, all rather uninspiring as it stands, but big enough for over 200 homes. It’s within walking distance of Addlestone station, there are hundreds of existing homes nearby, and the network of roads around it would prevent further development once it was built. Most people wouldn’t even realise this is green belt land and few people would miss it if it was built on.”

There are 14 areas of green belt in the UK, with that around London covering 1.2m acres – where the CPRE claim to have found “threatened areas” including 207,000 acres in Hertfordshire, 300,000 acres in Surrey, and 240,000 acres in Essex.

Adam Hesse adds: “The trouble is that the idea of creating protected ribbons of land around our major urban areas is an outdated and failed experiment. Instead of preventing urban sprawl, the green belt has pushed house building into genuinely valuable parts of the countryside that really should be protected. All of which has meant longer commuting times, increased expense and more pollution.

“In effect, green belts now act as ‘walls’ which confine urban dwellers at increasingly higher densities – and are partly the reason why house prices are out of reach for so many.

“This country is already prioritising development on brown field land, and it’s expected that 90% of such sites will have planning permission by 2020. But if we are going to solve this country’s housing crisis, some building on green belt land is now inevitable.”

Post by: Property Publicity – Eric Dixon eric@propertypublicity.co.uk

 

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

small house bird box
Breaking News

UK First Time Buyers better off than many other global nations

Is it really that bad being a first-time buyer? UK better off than many other global nations when it comes to affordability The latest market analysis from Yopa, the full-service estate agents, reveals that first-time buyers (FTBs) in the UK may be paying 63% more to get a foot on the property ladder than they…
Read More
new build homes colchester essex
Breaking News

Building Safety Regulator Reform

The Government has announced reforms to the Building Safety Regulator, including leadership, process and investment. The changes are hoped to deliver 1.5 million homes. The reforms pave the way for creation of a single construction safety regulator, as recommended by the Grenfell Tower enquiry. David Smith, property litigation partner at London law firm Spector Constant…
Read More
Breaking News

New anti-money laundering rules now in effect: what landlords need to know

New anti-money laundering (AML) rules came into effect this month, marking a significant change for landlords and the lettings industry as a whole. The new rules mean financial sanctions checks are now required for all lettings, regardless of how much rent is charged. Here, Steve Bond, managing director of residential lettings for Beresfords, explains what…
Read More
Breaking News

What landlords need to know about the upcoming Renters Rights Bill

The government’s long-awaited Renters Rights Bill is one of the most significant overhauls of the private rental sector in decades. While it has not yet received royal assent, the legislation is expected to come into effect late this year, or early in 2026. With the bill moving closer to becoming law, Steven Bond, managing director…
Read More
Breaking News

Mortgage approvals bounce back in May

The latest figures show that: – Mortgage approvals on house purchases for May sat at 63,032 up 3.9% from 60,656 in April. The monthly increase seen in May marks the end of four months of previous decline, with approval levels having fallen each month since January of this year. Approvals are also 2.5% higher than…
Read More
Breaking News

Money and Credit – May 2025

Key points: Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals increased by £2.8 billion to £2.1 billion in May, following a large decrease in net borrowing of £13.8 billion to -£0.8 billion in April. Net mortgage approvals for house purchases increased by 2,400 to 63,000 in May. Approvals for remortgaging also increased by 6,200 to 41,500…
Read More