THE REMOVAL of strict limits on housing in the green belt will open up swathes of prime development space.
Ministers have repeatedly sought to reassure campaigners that the green belt is “sacrosanct”.
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The removal of strict limits on green belt building is to open up swathes of land for developmentCredit: Getty Images
But with the rings of land around English cities now totalling four million acres, the Government is ready to tear up the ban.
Sources last year claimed that councils could build 300,000 homes on the green belt in a bid to help Ministers meet their target of a million new homes by 2020.
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid was given wholehearted support by Legal & General, the insurance giant that has ploughed a fortune into pre-fab housing.
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Sajid Javid is supported in opening up the green belt by insurance giant Legal & General, which is investing in pre-fabricated housingCredit: Getty Images
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As many as 300,000 new homes could be built on the green belt to help ministers build 1 million by 2020Credit: PA:Press Association
L&G chief executive Nigel Wilson said a “critical reassessment” of green belt land was badly needed.
He explained that if just 1 per cent of green belt was released for building it would be enough for up to one million new homes.
He said: “The green belt has doubled in size in the last 20 years, it is 4 million acres now.
“There are lots of areas that have been designated green belt which are really brown field sites and we absolutely have to build on more brown field sites.”
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