Labour pledges housebuilding drive on Grey Belt with ‘golden rules’ to boost public services, affordable homes and improve green spaces
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Keir Starmer has today [Friday] set out five ‘golden rules' for
Grey Belt housebuilding, pledging to deliver affordable homes,
boost infrastructure and public services like schools and GPs, and
improve genuine green spaces. Building 1.5 million homes over the
next parliament is a key plank of Labour's policy programme, with a
promise to reform planning rules at pace, to “take on the blockers
and back the dream of home ownership.” While reiterating that
Labour will...Request free trial
Keir Starmer has today [Friday] set out five ‘golden rules' for Grey Belt housebuilding, pledging to deliver affordable homes, boost infrastructure and public services like schools and GPs, and improve genuine green spaces. Building 1.5 million homes over the next parliament is a key plank of Labour's policy programme, with a promise to reform planning rules at pace, to “take on the blockers and back the dream of home ownership.” While reiterating that Labour will always take a 'brownfield first' approach to housing development, Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner are also pledging to release some land currently classed as Green Belt to build the homes Britain needs, “in light of abject Tory failure to build the homes our country needs.” On a visit to a housing development today, the pair will outline Labour's plans to create a new class of 'Grey Belt' land to ensure grey and poor-quality parts of the Green Belt are prioritised, and that any development benefits local communities. This follows cases such as affordable homes in Tottenham being blocked because a disused petrol station was designated as green belt. Labour today slams the current 'wild west' of Green Belt development under the Tories, with an inconsistent and haphazard approach leading to significant amounts of speculative development - including on high-quality nature rich green belt land, often via appeal over the heads of councils and out of the reach of local people. Labour will end this free for all with a smarter approach that ensures the right land is released and that development on it benefits local communities. The Tories' approach means nobody is winning; the housing crisis is “engulfing a generation of hard-working aspirational people” whilst the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. It comes as new analysis from Labour reveals the scale of Tory housing failure, with planning applications received and granted dropping to the lowest level on record. Applications made and granted have dropped by a fifth under Rishi Sunak. A Labour government would take a brownfield first approach to development across England, prioritising building on previously developed land in all circumstances and taking steps to improve upon the government's lacklustre record of brownfield build out rates. Areas with enough brownfield land should not release greenbelt. A Labour government will implement five 'golden rules' for Grey Belt development: 1. Brownfield first – Within the green belt, any brownfield land must be prioritised for development.
3. Affordable homes – plans must target at least 50% affordable housing delivery when land is released. 4. Boost public services and infrastructure - plans must boost public services and local infrastructure, like more school and nursery places, new health centres and GP appointments. 5. Improve genuine green spaces – Labour rules out building on genuine nature spots and requires plans to include improvements to existing green spaces, making them accessible to the public, with new woodland, parks and playing fields. Plans should meet high environmental standards. The Chair of Natural England has backed building on the green belt, pointing out “combining house building with nature recovery offers huge opportunities for increasing the environmental value of greenbelt, while creating great places for people to live.“ Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party said: “The Tories' housing emergency has left millions unable to plan their lives, start families, or build a future for themselves and their kids. It's engulfing a generation of hard-working aspirational people. “Labour supports brownfield first policies. But we must be honest we cannot build the homes Britain needs without also releasing some land currently classed as Green Belt. “We'll prioritise ugly, disused grey belt land, and set tough new conditions for releasing that land. Our golden rules will also ensure any grey belt development delivers affordable homes, new infrastructure and improved green spaces. "We will get tough on the blockers to back hard-working aspirational Brits, deliver the homes and local services that communities deserve, all while protecting access to genuine green space.” Angela Rayner, Labour's Deputy Leader said: “Under the Tories, much of the Green Belt isn't green, rolling hills, but poor-quality scrub land, mothballed on the outskirts of towns. This Grey Belt land should not be off limits while local people are kept off the housing ladder. “The Tories have failed to distinguish genuine green spaces from “Grey Belt” land that's ripe for housebuilding – and when they do concrete over, they never build the public services like GPs, schools and transport links to go with it. “Labour has a plan for smarter Green Belt release, underpinned by strong rules to tackle the housing emergency and build the homes we need. When we build on the Grey Belt, our promise is that more houses means more schools, doctors and green spaces families can use.” Ends Notes to editors: Labour's Golden Rules for grey belt development 1. Brownfield first Labour reaffirms its commitment to brownfield first planning policies, meaning areas should always look to build on brownfield sites before building on the green belt. Within the green belt, they should also prioritise brownfield land. 2. Grey belt second Labour will create a new category called grey belt, prioritising development in grey and ugly areas of the Green Belt. We don't think it is right that wastelands and old car parks located on the greenbelt are given the same protections in national policy as rolling hills and nature spots in the green belt.
Any Green Belt land that is built on must target 50% affordable housing. There are many examples across the country of green belt sites delivering more than this (e.g 100%) reflecting the lower land value of green belt. We will end the Tories' wild west of Green Belt building, with affordable housing rates as low as 10% with expensive executive homes local people can't afford. 4. Boost public services and infrastructure We will ensure that when your town or city grows, public services and infrastructure grow too – greenbelt release must include new infrastructure like more school and nursery places, care homes or GP capacity. The exact delivery will be negotiated by local leaders depending on the needs of their patch. 5. Protect genuine green space Homes built on the greenbelt must be accompanied by a plan to improve existing green spaces and create new ones accessible to local people. This will mean new woodlands, parks, playing fields and protected space for local species. Lots of existing green belt is low quality wasteland sat on by landowners that local people can't use and enjoy. We agree with the Chair of Natural England, who has said housebuilding and protecting nature are not incompatible. We will also look to ensure high environmental standards, that go above the legal minimum on biodiversity net gain must be met.
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