In response to the 50th anniversary of the first government circular telling councils to look at designating areas of green belt land. HBF Chief Executive, Rob Ashmead, comments:
“The Home Builders Federation welcomes the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the greenbelt, and commends the historic contribution the scheme has made to sustaining both our countryside and our communities.
“But we should recognise that one consequence of the policy is that many British people live at higher densities than our European counterparts. Only eight per cent of land in Britain is urban, half that of Denmark, Belgium or the Netherlands.
“House builders have responded extremely well to Government targets to build at higher densities on brownfield land. The proportion of new homes built on brownfield sites has reached an all-time record level of 70 per cent - up from 56 per cent in 1997, at the same time that new building has increased. Meanwhile, the average density of new homes development has increased nationally to 40dph (dwellings per hectare), up from 25dph in 1997.
“Increased house building is not about concreting over the countryside. Even Kate Barker’s most ambitious scenario of 120,000 additional homes each year would use only 0.75 per cent of total land area in the South East over the next ten years.
“In fact, most people are not opposed to the sensible development of the greenbelt. 65% of people agree that “new homes should be built on greenfield sites if they are needed locally, no brownfield sites are available, and care is taken to preserve the environment as far as possible” (HBF YouGov Poll 2004)
“Put simply – we need more homes. If we want to avoid the worsening social and economic consequences of chronic under-supply, and if we want to give people the homes they want and need to live in, we need a more flexible approach to the release of land. If we don’t, in fifty years time people may be able to enjoy the benefits of greenbelt countryside but be living at even higher densities.