Sir Sadiq Khan has said he is concerned that house-builders are buying up parts of London’s green belt in the expectation that ministers will soon loosen the rules which currently protect the land from development.
The Government plans to de-classify “low quality” parts of the green belt to enable new homes to be built on it, with those areas effectively re-designated as ‘grey belt’.
Speaking at Mayor’s Question Time on Thursday, Sir Sadiq stressed the importance of taking a “brownfield-first approach” to fixing the housing crisis, which the new Government has said it also supports.
The mayor separately revealed that City Hall is applying for Government funding to carry out a comprehensive “review” of London’s green belt, which will seek to identify potential grey belt locations and enable them to be considered for development in a “strategic” way.
Thomas Turrell, the London Assembly’s Tory member for Bexley and Bromley, told Sir Sadiq: “Close to half of the instances when [new housing construction] completions and starts in Bromley have been off target have come since 2019. During this time, developers have continued to buy up our green belt.”
He asked: “Does the mayor share my concern that developers have been dragging their feet on completions in the hope of a relaxation of the green belt rules?”
Sir Sadiq replied: “Without commenting on the specific developers there – I don’t want to inadvertently defame them – there is a concern that developers will, and have been, buying green belt land with the expectation [that] the value of this land will increase hugely if planning policies are changed to make housing and other things possible on those pieces of land.
“So this phrase ‘landbanking’ is quite apt in relation to some of this stuff… That has been a concern, and one of the reasons why a brownfield-first approach is the right approach [for house-building].
“I can understand having a conversation about green belt land, if it was the case that every piece of brownfield land had been used… But it’s not the case that we’re at that position, in relation to brownfield sites, so I agree with the concerns he’s raising, without in any way casting aspersions on the particular developers in his patch.”
Pressed by Mr Turrell on the question of whether the Government’s grey belt plans could “de-incentivise” building on brownfield sites, the mayor said he did not want the impression to be given that the green belt will soon be a “wild west” for house-building.
“What we don’t want is speculative developers thinking they can start buying up green belt in and around London that for decades has been the lungs for residents in this great city of ours,” he said.
In September last year, a spokesman at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government addressed similar concerns, saying: “We are in a housing crisis and all areas of the country, including London, must play their part in ending it by building the homes we need.
“We recognise the important role the green belt plays in preventing urban sprawl. We will work in partnership with local leaders and take a brownfield-first approach to building, so sites which people are desperate to see used will be developed first.”
The Ministry added that it also wanted “to ensure that high performing green belt land is not degraded to meet grey belt criteria”.
Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has said City Hall will carry out a review to identify grey belt locations within London’s green belt (PA Wire)
Sir Sadiq told the Assembly that grey belt locations identified for potential development in City Hall’s forthcoming review could include “previously developed land in the green belt, or land that does not strongly meet the green belt purposes of checking unrestricted sprawl, preventing towns merging and preserving the setting of historic towns”.
He added: “It is really important that these developments benefit Londoners – those waiting on housing waiting lists, those who are currently homeless, those who aspire to be homeowners, those who are currently thinking about leaving London, because they can’t afford to stay in this great city.”