What is the green belt, can houses be built there and how much does it cost to buy the land?
The policy of protected open spaces near cities has been criticised with opponents claiming it helps fuel London's housing crisis
THE Green Belt refers to areas of open space outside large cities which have building restrictions to control the spread of urban growth.
Let’s take a closer look at the policy.
What is the Green Belt?
Green belt land stops urban sprawl from creeping into the countryside, protecting forestry, agriculture and wildlife.
The policy is said to benefit city folk as well as rural communities as it offers urbanites access to open spaces and cleaner air.
Green belt areas have strong building restrictions and usually only allows structures for agricultural and sanitation uses.
But, the policy has been criticised near highly populated areas such as London where sky-high house prices have left many city folk unable to get on the property ladder.
Some experts believe that loosening building restrictions on low-quality green belt areas could help alleviate the housing crisis.
How much does it cost to buy green belt land?
The cost of the land largely depends on whether it has planning permission or not.
In 2011, the reported that green belt land costing around £6,000 per acre could sell for "about £500,000" per acre if it has consent to build.
The National Planning policy framework states that construction of new buildings on green belt land is considered “inappropriate development.”
Developers need to submit a case for “very special circumstances” in which the building would outweigh the resulting harm to the environment.
Why has Theresa May been criticised over the policy?
Experts have warned that the Prime Minister will fail to fulfil her pledge to build 300,000 homes a year unless she agrees to build on the green belt
The target to solve the housing crisis was set in the November Budget by Chancellor Philip Hammond.
On the PM’s demand, the Chancellor kept green fields on town edges ring-fenced from any new home building, limiting fresh planning reforms to towns and cities.
But developers argue town outskirts rather than inner cities are where people want to live.
Peter Truscott, chief executive of the construction company Galliford Try, said: “Getting through the planning system is slow, cumbersome and unpredictable. Something needs to be done about that, and that will speed up house building.
“As far as the green belt is concerned, inevitably at some point if we want to be building 300,000 houses a year, we’re going to have to start looking at areas of the green belt, particularly in areas of very high demand”.
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