Brownfield update: space for 29,580 homes on recycled land in Hertfordshire

Once again, we’ve done our annual compilation of the latest brownfield data for Hertfordshire’s ten districts and boroughs. According to each Council’s Brownfield Land Register, i.e. the Councils’ own data, there is currently enough previously developed land available for a minimum of 29,580 new homes.

Here at CPRE Hertfordshire we care deeply about brownfield, or previously developed, land. If more new housing can be provided by regenerating or redeveloping this land, then more of the countryside can remain available for nature and wildlife, for growing crops, and for giving all of us the access to green space that we need for our health and well-being.

A 43% year-on-year increase in brownfield opportunities

It is significant that our Hertfordshire local authorities have identified enough brownfield land for 29,580 new homes. This is a staggering 43% increase from what we reported last year, which is very good news. This means that a significantly greater percentage of the new homes that local residents need can be provided by redeveloping and regenerating land that has already been built on.

What’s more, these figures:

• are only the minimum net number of new dwellings and on some sites more new dwellings are possible;
• only reflect sites where the landowner has come forward;
• and the 43% increase in possible new dwellings is entirely due to just three districts having updated their Brownfield Land Registers since our last report – St Albans District, Watford Borough, and Welwyn Hatfield Borough; the other seven districts have not updated their data.

So the actual opportunity for redeveloping brownfield land is almost certainly a much greater figure than the 29,580 new homes reflected currently. For example, we are aware of a major town centre site that is proposed for redevelopment from commercial into residential use, but is not shown on the Council Brownfield Land Register.

What does the data show

* Number of sites and hectares in Stevenage excludes town centre;  total minimum dwellings (net) for Stevenage includes town centre

For each of the three local authorities that have updated their Brownfield Land Registers since our last stock-take – St Albans, Watford and Welwyn Hatfield – there is an increase in the number of identified sites and the number of minimum net dwellings that could be built on those sites.

When Councils put out a call for brownfield sites, time and time again, more landowners come forward and more sites are identified that are available and suitable for redevelopment. So we call on those Hertfordshire local authorities that have not updated their Brownfield Land Registers for several years to do so. (This is important not only for identifying additional sites for redevelopment, but also for removing sites that have been successfully re-built and delivered).

Finally, we continue to call on all Hertfordshire local authorities to ensure that identified brownfield sites are redeveloped, with the right homes for local people’s needs, before building on green fields and in the countryside. In late 2024 the Government re-stated its commitment to a ‘brownfield first’ approach to development and we want to see that really happening throughout our county.

Read more about brownfield

If you want to learn more about brownfield, you can read CPRE’s report State of Brownfield 2022, with in-depth research across the whole of England. Our research found that over 1.2 million homes could be built on 23,000 sites covering more than 27,000 hectares of previously developed land.

So both locally in Hertfordshire and nationally across England, there continues to be massive unrealised opportunity to develop new housing on brownfield land.

Help us support brownfield development and save green fields

Want to help us keep the pressure on councils and the government to utilise brownfield?  Please join us, or make a one-off or regular donation. And please sign up below for our newsletter, to keep up to date with all of our work. Your support is greatly appreciated and can make a real difference.

If you’d like to get involved in a more practical way, take a look at our Brownfield toolkit.  The toolkit is designed to help you tell your local council about vacant sites. It’s an easy way to help make sure suitable land is constantly being added to Brownfield Land Registers. Why not see what wasted spaces could be regenerated in your area?