ROOF Blog

A recent decision by Rushcliffe borough council to refuse planning permission for a 1,200 home development on green belt land has been overturned by communities secretary John Denham. The local authority had thrown out the scheme on the grounds that it would have created traffic and resulted in a loss of green belt land, however, the secretary of state said there was an ‘urgent need’ for the release of land for housing in Rushcliffe.

A Campaign to Protect Rural England study has accused developers of concreting over greenfield land, rather than build on brownfield sites, because the land is easier to build on and the houses can be sold for more. The CPRE wants tighter restrictions on the scale, location and timing of greenfield land release and more incentives for developers to build on brownfield land first.

The latest government figures have revealed an increase in the use of brownfield land during 2008. London has the greatest proportion of dwellings built on previously developed land, while East Midlands has the smallest. Across the country 78 per cent of dwellings were built on previously used land, up from 77 per cent in 2007. The Campaign to Protect Rural England welcomed the rise in brownfield use saying it showed land was being used more efficiently, but it was alarmed at the level of building on greenbelt and in areas of high flood risk.

The developers of a proposed eco-town near Stratford-upon-Avon have misled local residents about its potential benefits the advertising watchdog, Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), has ruled. MP Peter Luff challenged the claims that Middle Quinton would create more than 4,700 new jobs and 6,000 homes and questioned the claim the site would be located on brownfield land. The ASA upheld Mr Luff’s complaint and ruled the two companies, St Mowden and the Bird Group, must not repeat the claims.

Hertfordshire county council and St Albans district council have issued a legal challenge to the government over its regional spatial strategy in the East of England plan. The councils object to designations for 12,000 additional homes in Hemel Hempstead, 10,000 in Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield, and 7,200 in St Albans claiming it will add substantial levels of housing to an already congested areas, that performs a vital green belt function around London.

The government has released the latest statistics on green belt land. Green belt land makes up 13 per cent of the land area of England by 31 March 2009, an increase of more than 3,100 hectares in annual figures – with the North West showing the largest increase and the East Midlands the largest decrease.

The value of development land fell by an average of 50 per cent during 2008, research from Knight Frank has found. Every region was affected – prime London, which had remained relatively resilient, has the largest drop with land falling 33 per cent on average in the final three months of 2008. Urban land values in Yorkshire and Humberside experienced the steepest fall at 64 per cent.

House builders are likely to become more conservative and turn their backs on major regeneration schemes in response to the recession, according to research by Knight Frank. House builders and developers will look to smaller scale and lower density developments, particularly on greenfield sites. And with values dropping by as much as 70 per cent, many investors are holding on to land and waiting for values to rise, which will further reduce housing supply, the report argues.

The proportion of homes built on previously developed land increased in 2007 as did the density of residential development. Figures released by the UK Statistics Authority for land use change show that 77 per cent of homes, including conversions, were built on previously developed land, slightly up from 76 per cent in 2006, and only 2 per cent of new homes were built within the greenbelt – a figure unchanged since 2004. New homes were built at an average density of 44 per hectare, compared with 41 in 2006.