Demand for homes is outstripping supply, which is why the government has pledged to build one million new properties by 2020.
House building fell last year and was nearly one-third below its peak level in 2007. Something needs to be done to redress this shortfall to avert a serious crisis.
One way of alleviating the problem is to allow building on Green Belt land. The government has revealed plans for some ‘starter homes’ to be built on the outskirts of major cities.
Why Have Green Belt Land?
The laws restricting building on Green Belt land were put in place after the Second World War with the aim of preventing cities sprawling across vast swathes of the countryside. Now a government consultation has been launched which could allow councils to approve small-scale developments for starter homes on the Green Belt. The consultation runs until Monday, January 25.
These starter homes would be useful for professional people and employees working in cities such as London, where property prices are out of reach for most.
Shelter, the housing charity, has forecast that families on average salaries would be not be able to afford properties in 58% of council areas in 2020, according to a report in the Independent.
Providing Affordable Housing on the Green Belt
Under the government’s Start Homes schemes, private developers could build homes which would be 20 per cent cheaper than other properties for sale in the area because of a government subsidy.
The proposal to build on the Green Belt has found favour with younger people, who are being forced out of the property market in many areas, according to an article in The Times. Renters are less concerned about protecting the land than owner-occupiers, says the article.
Another way to release land is by using industrial or brownfield sites. The UK has more than 400,000 hectares of contaminated land which can be cleaned up and then developed. The UK has a lot of experience in this field, as it showed when it developed contaminated land for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.
Companies such as www.ashremediation.co.uk are specialists in land remediation, where potentially hazardous material is removed from contaminated land.
This is another way to free up land so it is fit for purpose to provide much-needed homes for families in the UK.
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