In a move which critics said was designed to appeal to Tory members and nimbies – those with an “not in my back yard” view on planning changes – the former chancellor said the focus should be on “brownfield , brownfield, brownfield’. Competing for votes in the Conservative leadership race with days to go before ballots are cast, Mr Sunack said a blanket rejection would be issued to councils seeking to change green belt boundaries to free up land for development. His campaign contrasts with rival Liz Truss, who in May 2019 as chief secretary to the Treasury proposed building 1 million homes in London’s green belt and around other “growth cities” to help more people under 40 years old to buy their first property. Sunak called green belt land “extremely valuable” and said there had been “too many examples of local councils overriding residents’ views by taking land out of the green belt for development”. He said more homes could be built while protecting “our most precious landscape” with space for 1 million homes in hotspot locations – particularly in the north-west of England, the West Midlands and Yorkshire. The MP for Richmond, who was reportedly granted planning permission last year to extend his North Yorkshire home onto farmland, said “inner-city densification” would also be key to increasing housing stock. Since 2006, the green belt has shrunk by around 1%, according to analysis by the House of Commons library. Sunak’s team claimed councils were taking advantage of a loophole that allowed them to seek permission from the Planning Inspectorate to remove land from their green belt by updating their local plans. It pledged to end this practice by updating the National Planning Policy Framework and remove the possibility of “inappropriate” development in the green belt “in very special circumstances”. The promise sparked outrage from Robert Colville, who helped draft the Conservative manifesto in December 2019 and heads the Margaret Thatcher-founded Center for Policy Studies think tank. He said Sunak and Truss’ housing plans “reinforce the fantasy that we can build all the homes we need on the brownfield well out of sight of Tory voters”. The green belt has only shrunk by 194 square kilometers since 2014, and at current rates it would take a millennium to cover it, according to Colville. He added: “Britain has a housing crisis. It’s crippling our economy. It ruins the lives of a generation. However, more Nimbyism is emphatically not the answer.” Giles Wilkes, a former special adviser to Theresa May, said that “even if green belt building doesn’t really transform housing affordability, it’s a pretty desperate and regressive move”. The Conservative leader of Swindon council, David Renard, opposed Sunak’s move and said: “There is a consensus that the country needs to build 300,000 homes a year and that we are currently short of those numbers. “Centrally mandated numbers or locations in each local authority are not welcome as it is up to councils to determine what the housing needs are in their areas and decide where these new homes are best placed.” Renard said any policy that is not locally driven “risks building homes in areas where there is insufficient need and demand”. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST In the Conservative manifesto in 2019, the party promised to “protect and enhance the green belt” but stopped short of blocking any further development on it, saying the government would “prioritise green belt development”. CPRE, the countryside charity, estimated that more than 250,000 homes are currently proposed to be built on land removed from green belt – more than four times as many as in 2013 – and said that “bit by bit, the local authorities eat into protected countryside, using crude, numerical targets that fail to deliver affordable and social housing.’ Tom Fyans, its director of campaigns and policy, said: “Applications to change green belt boundaries to free up land for housing have soared since 2013. This is despite the urgent need to regenerate our countryside so that they can absorb carbon, stimulate wildlife and provide the necessary space for recreation in nature. We wholeheartedly welcome Sunak’s first approach to programming.”
