How to build 4.6m extra homes ‘without harming the green belt’

Ministers could free up space to build almost 4.6 million homes by allowing the development of greenbelt land within a 15-minute walk of a railway line, according to a report. Under housing reforms that have already been put in place, greenbelt land within 800 metres of a railway station can now be developed, which could potentially provide space for more than 300,000 residential properties. Most commented 1 Forgotten particle may hold key to how universe survived big bang Science 248 comments 2 Lily Allen: ‘I felt I was a vehicle for male pleasure — not my own’ Music 245 comments 3 ‘We got a call yesterday. Birth mum’s had another baby’ Parenting 32 comments 4 Doctor Who and me — Russell T Davies on his life in TV Books 26 comments 5 Budget 2026 predictions: when is it and what could be announced? Economics 235 comments However, the report by the Centre for Policy Studies, a think tank, and the design practice Create Streets has concluded that if the principle were extended further, an additional 4.3 million homes could be built, including 1.1 million homes around London . The study found that these properties could all be built while preserving all conservation sites and high-grade agricultural land by utilising so-called greybelt land, which is of limited environmental or farming value. Top stories 1 16 of the best safaris in Africa Africa To assess the potential for development, Create Streets carried out a spatial survey of the existing green belt, assessing the quality, character and value of the land. This involved both looking at existing datasets as well as aerial surveillance using drone technology. Advertisement The survey showed that alongside high-quality land, the green belt also included industrial sites, disused quarries, brownfield sites and waste dumps. Top stories 1 Prepare now for the inheritance tax mess coming for your pension Tax In addition it found hundreds of thousands of hectares of land with limited ecological, scientific and agricultural value, much of which was within walking distance of railway stations in areas of acute housing scarcity, or near railway lines to which stations could be added. A sign advertises houses that will be constructed on what was previously greenbelt land in Somerset ANNA BARCLAY/GETTY IMAGES The report said that with “relatively modest tweaks” to the government’s existing greybelt policy, many more homes could be built, which would potentially make it easier for ministers to hit Labour’s target of building 1.5 million properties by the end of this parliament. Many of these, it said, would be in areas where housing demand was at its highest, especially around London and the southeast. The report also called on ministers to relax rules around how much greenbelt development needed to be social housing. It argued that these threatened to “throttle” development by making it unaffordable to build. Advertisement Instead it said that “all new housing provides places for people to live”. The report concluded: “We should learn from the past, by focusing development along rail lines to create a 21st-century Metroland — beautiful homes, built in a way that helps to tackle the housing crisis without compromising the features of the English countryside that green belting aims to safeguard.” Red tape makes many new homes unviable, former minister warns Robert Colvile, head of small business at the think tank and one of the report’s authors, said that although the green belt was one of the “most controversial topics in policy” it was also “one of the least understood”. He said: “As this paper conclusively shows, it has strangled the expansion of our great cities, in the name of preserving land that is often neither beautiful nor agriculturally productive. Advertisement “There is significant space for sensitive development on the green belt. Under Keir Starmer , the government set out plans which would free up limited land for housing, but our report identifies significant areas where Andy Burnham could go further, creating millions of new homes close to existing infrastructure, while protecting all the elements of the green belt that people love.” Property newsletter Inside Britain’s most exclusive homes, plus what’s really going on in the property market. Sign up with one click You’ve successfully signed up to the Property newsletter Explore our newsletters An error occurred. Please use the link below. Property newsletter Explore our newsletters Samuel Hughes, a research fellow at the think tank, added: “The green belt as it stands today strangles our major towns and cities and protects land which is not beautiful or useful in its current form. Releasing targeted parcels of well-connected land for reasonable development can help safeguard the countryside, assist in urban regeneration and relieve pressure on our overheated housing market.”