Government ‘grey belt’ reform is ‘somewhat rushed and incoherent’
Plans to unlock ugly parts of green belt land for development have been implemented in a “somewhat rushed and incoherent manner”, according to a prominent group of peers.
In a letter to Angela Rayner, Lord Daniel Moylan, chair of the Built Environment Committee, raised a number of concerns with the government’s so-called ‘grey belt’ policy.
The grey belt was a new concept introduced to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) with the aim of freeing up specific parts of green belt land for development.
It includes green belt land which has previously been developed and/or land that does not strongly contribute to the other purposes of the green belt.
The measure was an important part of the reform package which the government hoped would enable it to meet its ambitious target to build 1.5m new houses over the parliament.
Moylan said he saw the “potential” for the grey belt policy to help councils build more houses, but suggested its impact would be “marginal, at best” due to other changes to the NPPF.
The revised NPPF includes a requirement for councils to review green belt boundaries and propose alterations if they are not able to satisfy identified housing needs, Moylan noted.
“It is difficult to see what the grey belt regime will add in terms of the ability to build on the Green Belt in light of this requirement,” he said, suggesting the concept “may now be largely redundant”.
He also pointed to a “lack of differentiation” between terms like ‘grey belt’ and ‘land released from the Green Belt’, suggesting a lack of clarity about the new concept.
This could encourage developers to put forward “ad hoc and speculative applications” in an attempt to test the parameters of the grey belt.
The letter also flagged the wide range in estimates about how many new houses could be built on the grey belt land, which ranges from as low as 50,000 to as high as 4m.
The variation implies the policy had “not been adequately assessed,” he argued.
“We believe the grey belt policy has been implemented in a somewhat rushed and incoherent manner, and we do not believe that it is likely to have any significant or lasting impact on planning decision-making,” Moylan wrote.
A spokesperson for the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Our green belt reforms are informed through widespread consultation and will unlock more land for the homes and infrastructure communities desperately need, delivering sustainable, affordable and well-designed developments on low-quality grey belt”.
“This is just one of the ambitious housing reforms we have set out to solve the housing crisis and boost economic growth.”