Building homes on brownfield land will be turbocharged under a major shake-up to planning rules to boost house building while protecting the Green Belt.
As part of its long-term plan for housing, the government has announced that every council in England will be told that they will need to prioritise brownfield developments and instructed to be less bureaucratic and more flexible in applying policies that halt house building on brownfield land.
The raft of policy measures announced today show the government taking immediate action on its long-term plan for housing, which will deliver homes in the areas that need and want them the most – such as in big cities, where there is the highest demand and existing infrastructure to support new development. The focus on brownfield land and urban development is part of the government’s plan to take a common sense to delivering the housing that is needed, protect the countryside and Green Belt.
A consultation on these proposals launched today and will run until Tuesday 26 March, and the government will look to implement these changes to national planning policy as soon as possible.
The shake up is in line with Wirral's draft Local Plan, which seeks to regenerate run down and neglected urban areas in the Borough while protecting Green Belt, such as the land around Saughall Massie.
We are already on track to meet the manifesto commitment to build one million homes over this Parliament. The government have delivered over 2.5 million more homes since 2010, including almost 696,000 affordable homes and supported over 876,000 households into home ownership. This Parliament we have delivered the highest number of new homes in over three decades, helping create the highest number of first-time buyers in single year in two decades.
Councillor Jeff Green said:
“It is now 20 years since Wirral was first required to have a Local Plan to protect our Green Belt but it is only since 2019 that the Council has made any progress.
“Today’s announcement is clear sign that our draft plan for Wirral has made the right choices, thanks to the work of residents and campaigners and scrapping the decision by the Town Hall’s last ‘cabinet’ to build on our Green Belt.
“I would urge developers to accept they are fighting a losing battle and, instead, to work with the Council to regenerate those run down and neglected parts of the Borough.”
Between 1997 and 2010, average housing delivery was over 170,000 a year. Since 2019, we have delivered over 233,000 new homes a year on average.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove said:
Today marks another important step forward in our Long-Term Plan for Housing, taking a brownfield first approach to deliver thousands of new homes where people want to live and work, without concreting over the countryside.
Our new brownfield presumption will tackle under delivery in our key towns and cities – where new homes are most needed to support jobs and drive growth.
