Big developers exploit loophole to build on greenfield land

A new report from CPRE shows how some big housing developers are exploiting a loophole that enables them to bypass the local democratic process and gain permission for development, even in protected landscapes such as the Green Belt.

Local planning authorities are meant to decide where and how much to build in their district or borough, through the Local Plan process. This is a democratic process which includes several rounds of public consultation and input.

But our new report shows how some developers are appealing against refusal of planning permission, and gaining permission to build even in sensitive and protected landscapes.

We’re urgently calling for proposed changes to the planning rules that would stop this happening. The proposed changes to the National Policy Planning Framework were consulted on in December 2022 but have yet to be implemented. Among the changes would be less emphasis on the requirement to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply and the removal of any requirement to review Green Belt boundaries in order to meet housing need.

We have written to all the MPs in Hertfordshire, asking them to urge the government to speed up the implementation of these changes.

Sacrificing the countryside for greenfield development

Here at CPRE Hertfordshire, we know there is a need for more new homes. But we also know that there is enough previously developed land (so-called brownfield land) available for more than 20,000 dwellings in Hertfordshire alone, and enough brownfield land for more than one million dwellings across England. With this much housing land available, there is just no need to sacrifice the precious countryside for greenfield development.

What our research found

CPRE’s research identifies 144 separate major developments on greenfield land across England, that were forced through on appeal in just the two years between 2020 and 2022, after having been denied permission by local authorities. Of those, 91 were clearly going against policies in the Local Plan.

It also shows that 112 of those developments were allowed on the grounds of technical arguments about whether the local authority had allocated enough sites for housebuilding. The developments were largely of market housing, with eight schemes totalling 2,200 houses having no more than 12% of these houses classed as affordable.

Read the report

Developer deep pockets

The report adds to suspicion that deep pocketed developers use the land supply loophole in the planning system to force the hand of cash-strapped councils. Six-figure legal fees eat into council budgets, with decisions frequently overturned on technicalities. For example, Waverley Borough Council in Surrey has spent nearly £900,000 defending planning appeals, including £370,000 in the two-year period covered in our research.

We know our Hertfordshire councils are having to spend significant amounts of money defending developer appeals. We’ve participated in six planning appeal inquiries over the past 12 months, and we’ve seen the large number of legal and technical specialists the developers have put forward to make their case to the Planning Inspector.

The way forward

We want to see much greater focus on regenerating suitable brownfield land to take the pressure off the countryside.

We also want the government to:

• Publish regularly updated data on building rates for large development sites, to hold developers who are stalling projects to account and to help prevent unnecessary development of greenfield sites;
• Allow local planning authorities to introduce policies to guide the order in which sites for new housing should be introduced (so-called ‘phasing’ policies) – developers already carry out such phasing but in a way that maximises their profits; and
• Empower local planning authorities to shape large new housing developments and insist on higher levels of social housing than are currently provided, as recommended by the 2018 review of build out led by Sir Oliver Letwin.

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We are CPRE Hertfordshire, the countryside charity. We campaign to protect and promote the beautiful Hertfordshire countryside for everyone. To find out more and to show your support for the countryside, please join us.