With recent statistics showing that housing development is decreasing on previously developed sites but increasing on the Green Belt, Removing obstacles to brownfield development calls for Government to implement a range of inventive policies to realise the potential of brownfield house building [2].
The paper calls for:
• the taxation of uncompleted housing for which planning permission has been granted on brownfield land;
• improved funding and assistance for brownfield remediation;
• special planning measures and state intervention to aid redevelopment;
• and the increased use of tax increment financing.
Download the paper
Removing obstacles to brownfield development (3MB PDF)
In his June 2014 Mansion House speech, Chancellor George Osborne emphasised the necessity of removing obstacles to brownfield redevelopment in order to protect green spaces. While this message is positive, the Government’s aim for 200,000 new homes on redeveloped brownfield land is significantly short of its real potential – which is estimated to be at least five times higher.
This paper, the second in the Housing Foresight series, comes in advance of the imminent publication of the Lyons Housing Review commissioned by the Labour party – which CPRE hopes will propose measures to incentivise brownfield development.
Luke Burroughs, report author and policy advisor at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, comments:
“Despite the Government’s encouraging rhetoric, house building is declining on brownfield while increasing on the Green Belt.
“There are several major obstacles which must be overcome to increase house building on brownfield and thereby protect green spaces. The Government has already introduced some positive policies, but with the upcoming Autumn Statement it has an excellent opportunity to introduce further measures to enhance house building in more sustainable locations.”
Notes to Editors
[1] Removing the obstacles to development on brownfield sites will be accessible via this link. It is the second in Luke Burroughs’ series of eight Housing Foresight papers aiming to deliver solutions for the housing crisis.
[2] ‘Green Belt: doubling in new homes built since Coalition was formed’, The Daily Telegraph, 11 August 2014.
If you would like to talk to Luke Burroughs about the paper in more detail then please contact Benjamin Halfpenny on 020 7981 2819 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
