Green belt, grey belt and brownfield: What's the difference and could it be built on near you?

The Labour government has promised to hit the challenging target of planning 1.5m homes over the next five years - they say they'll do that by cracking down on "nimbys", and today they've outlined their plans to build on green belt land.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he will "put builders not blockers first", and will "push through" housebuilding even if councils resist.

Under the new plans some of the green belt, which was established to protect some areas of land from "urban sprawl", will now be redefined as "grey belt" if it's "lower quality" land.

The government is also bringing back mandatory housing targets for councils, which were scrapped by the Conservatives in 2022. Councils will now have just 12 weeks from now to commit to a housebuilding plan, and if they fail to do, ministers say they'll impose a plan on them.

But what actually is "grey belt" land, how is it different to "green belt", and could homes be built near you? ITV News explains.

What is green belt?

The green belt was a concept established in 1938 to "prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open” around more built up areas.

It's currently really difficult to build on green belt land, as a developer must prove "very special circumstances" to be given planning permission.

Green belt land covers around 12.6% of England's land area, amounting to 6,326 square miles at the end of March 2023.

It's centred around 15 urban areas - the biggest being London, Merseyside and Greater Manchester, and South and West Yorkshire.

Under the new plans councils could be made to give up huge parts of their green belt land - they'll now have to review the land to see if any lower quality parts could be classed as "grey belt."

But organisations like the National Trust have warned the changes risk jeopardising crucial land, with environmentalists also concerned the government will roll back planning regulations aimed at protecting nature.

What is grey belt?

The grey belt is a new concept established by the Labour government, meaning parts of the green belt that are lower quality - like car parks, waste land, or petrol stations.

Under the new planning framework, grey belt land is land that makes "little or no contribution to the aim of the green belt."

Councils are being ordered to review their green belt boundaries to identify these lower quality areas, but there's very little data on where this land might be or how much of it there is.

The government have also introduced new "golden rules", which mean any development on the green belt must provide infrastructure for local communities, like nurseries, GP surgeries and transport, as well as a higher level of social and affordable housing.

What is brownfield?

The government defines brownfield land as “land which is or was occupied by a permanent structure”,

In 2022 brownfield land made up 8.7% of land in England.

Labour are still prioritising building on brownfield sites, using a "brownfield first" strategy. There will be a default "yes" to developers who want to use brownfield land.

Could homes be built near me?

It's difficult to measure how much of the green belt could be build on under these new plans, with critics arguing the definition of "grey belt" isn't clear enough and is open to complicated legal challenges.

But some analysis shows the reforms could open up 150,000 hectares of land for up to four million homes.

Property technology company LandTech’s found that areas such as East Surrey and Orpington could see significant growth, with 115,000 and 89,000 new homes respectively.

The North West has the largest share of potential grey belt land, and could accommodate up to 801,000 new homes.

The analysis showed London and the South East have capacity for 275,000 and 523,000 homes.

The government's plans also mean that areas with the most expensive housing will have tougher housebuilding targets.

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How likely is it the government will hit their target?

Building 1.5 million homes over the next five years means building 370,000 a year.

The government haven't committed to whether they will be able to hit that target for this year, or if the numbers will increase more towards the end of the five years.

The last time the UK consistently built over 300,000 homes a year was in the 1960s - and the number for last year was 220,000.

They've accepted this is a challenging target - Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook admitted to the housing, communities and local government committee last month that reaching the pledge of 1.5 million will be "more difficult than expected".

But Deputy PM Angela Rayner told ITV News last week she thinks there's a "10 out of 10" likelihood of hitting the "milestone" of 1.5 million.

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