Sadiq Khan yesterday attempted to grip that planning nettle when he declared the time has come to explore the release of green belt land around the capital – currently encompassing some 1.2m acres – to help build 88,000 homes a year.
The Labour mayor, who until recently had emphasised the need to “preserve and enhance” the green belt, used a set piece speech to state the status quo of preserving the area of land – first established in 1938 to thwart urban sprawl in London – is “wrong, out-of-date and simply unsustainable”.
square HOUSING Sadiq Khan to redraw London's green belt to build 88,000 homes a year
Read More
But translating such ambitions into reality – and indeed whether it is necessary at all – is hotly debated. Experts told The i Paper that a plethora of issues, including the criteria for choosing such sites and the extent to which developers can subsidise both affordable housing and necessary amenities such as schools, remain to be resolved.
Research by CBRE, a global real estate development consultancy, has suggested four outer London boroughs in particular – Bromley, Havering, Hillingdon and Enfield – have the potential to provide nearly 220,000 new homes if green belt development is permitted. Across London, some 500,000 homes could be provided if about 35,000 hectares of green belt – roughly seven per cent of the total – were redesignated for development.
The quartet of boroughs meet several of the mayor’s key criteria, including having large amounts of mixed-use green belt land as well as the prospect of high-capacity transport links to central London. Havering, in the east of the capital with some 42 square kilometres of green belt, has recently acquired three stations on the Elizabeth Line crossing London; while Bromley, the capital’s single largest borough with 50km2 of green belt, could benefit from proposals to extend the Bakerloo Line deep into the Kent suburbs of Beckenham and Hayes.
Scott Cabot, head of residential research at CBRE, said: “There is a general misunderstanding of the ‘green belt’ and the term ‘green’ is a misnomer. It is simply a planning and land use policy tool designed to keep our major urban areas from sprawling too far.
There are many who beg to differ. Environmental groups argue that there is too much subjectivity in terms such as “low-quality” green belt.
square WILL GORE The Bank of Mum and Dad is handing out huge sums - and I can't keep up
Read More
Spiers said the goal for the London mayor should be to achieve high-quality development which delivers more housing, more affordable homes and more truly wild space for nature. He said: “If this can be achieved, it will be good for people and good for nature. It will also be much better than piecemeal, low-density, car-dependent developments that are currently springing up across the green belt.”
Kevin Hollinrake, Conservative shadow housing minister, said: “There are thousands of brownfield sites in London crying out for regeneration – but Labour would rather sacrifice green space than do the hard work of proper planning.”
For his part, the London mayor insists brownfield developments will continue but says the “honest” position is that housebuilding targets cannot be met without redesignating parts of the green belt for housing.
Pleasant lands: Four London boroughs with green belt development potential
Bromley
Green belt land available: 7,660 hectares
Potential homes on green belt land: 71,268
Average house price: £518,000 (+4.5 per cent since Feb 2024)
Average first-time buyer house price: £401,000
Average rent: £1,611
Transport: London Overground, Tramlink and mainline rail.
Bromley, which sits in the south east of the capital, is London’s largest borough and has it highest amount of green belt land. It is set to benefit from a proposed £1.5bn extension of the Bakerloo Line which could see it eventually reach the suburbs of Beckenham and Hayes.
Havering
Green belt land available: 6,070 hectares
Potential green belt homes: 54,337
Average house price: £440,000 (+6.8 per cent since Feb 2024)
Average first time buyer price: £387,000
Average rent: £1,488
Transport: District Line, Elizabeth Line, London Overground and main line rail
Havering is London’s eastern-most borough and is a major winner from the opening of the Elizabeth Line traversing the capital. The addition of three stations – Romford, Harold Wood and Gidea Park – has seen house prices rise by as much as 14 per cent in some areas.
Hillingdon
Green belt land available: 4,870 hectares
Potential green belt homes: 46,609
Average house price: £477,000 (+4.5 per cent since Feb 2024)
Average first time buyer price: £411,000
Average rent: £1,521
Transport: Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines, Elizabeth Line, Heathrow Express, London Overground and main line.
Hillingdon is the second largest London borough and includes much of Heathrow Airport within its area. However, it is also the capital’s second least-densely populated borough due to large amounts of green belt land and the sheer size of the Heathrow complex.
Enfield
Green belt land available: 3.070 hectares
Potential green belt homes: 47,513
Average house price: £474,000 (+3.2 per cent since Feb 2024)
Average first time buyer price: £404,000
Average rent: £1,698
Transport: Piccadilly Line, London Overground and main line services
Enfield is the northernmost London borough. Like many other local authorities, it is under huge pressure to increase housebuilding but is failing to meet targets. Of 12,460 homes expected to be built by 2029, currently just 9,250 are expected to be completed.
(Source: CBRE, Office of National Statistics)
Jenevieve Treadwell, a specialist in housing policy at the London School of Economics, points out that over the last two decades, the affordability of housing in London has dropped dramatically – with the average house costing about 13 times the average salary in 2023 compared to seven times the average salary in 2003.
“But there are places like Bromley or Hillingdon with large amounts of green belt where this sort of development, which results in both high-grade housing and open space, is possible.
Experts point to the examples of cities in Texas, where light-touch zoning rules have resulted in average house prices of about $300,000 (£225,000) in places such as Houston, and Tokyo, where affordable housing is plentiful, as possible blueprints for London.
Increasingly there is a tension between the ability of planners to require developers to meet social housing targets and contribute towards the provision of amenities such as schools and roads – known as Section 106 agreements – and the ability of developers to fund such demands.
A senior executive with one developer said: “If we have a context of escalating costs across the board, then the economic viability of projects is an entirely relevant consideration. The opening of green belt land is not a magic wand. Certainly, it will help, but there is a lot in the details that needs to be right for it to work.”
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Four London green belt areas that could be built on for housing – and the impacts )
Also on site :