Campaigners urge new homes on to be built on brownfield

There is enough brownfield land in England to accommodate the government’s target of 1.3 million new homes, according to a leading pressure group.

A new report by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has identified capacity for 1.3 million homes on local authority brownfield registers, which is an increase of 19% in the last year.

It argues that brownfield land should be used for housing, especially where it can be repurposed and used instead of green belt or the countryside.

The government is currently looking at reforming the planning system, with the aim of encouraging the building of more homes.

However, the reforms themselves have proved to be highly controversial.

According to the CPRE, brownfield registers show that there is enough land for 1,061,346 homes over nearly 21,000 sites, covering almost 25,000 hectares.

It adds there is currently planning permission for 565,564 units, or 53% of the total brownfield housing capacity.

The report argues that local communities should be provided with sufficient time and resources to bring brownfield land forward for housing, such as improved compulsory purchase powers.

The report also says brownfield sites should be developed to high design standards and with a substantial proportion of genuinely affordable homes to meet local needs, as well as the use of modern methods of construction which allow homes to be built more quickly.

‘Today’s figures clearly show that the planning system is not what is ailing our housing market,’ said CPRE chief executive, Crispin Truman.

‘It’s clear the government have gravely misdiagnosed the problem. It is slow build-out rates and market-led housing that are blocking the quality affordable housing that rural communities are crying out for.

‘If there’s enough land in the planning system to meet the government’s own housing targets, what will an overhaul of the planning system, with rushed and untested changes, really achieve?’

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