Our letter to the Secretary of State – Homes for working people

CPRE Hertfordshire has written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner MP, to set out our views on the Government’s housing and planning agenda.

We recognise the urgent need for more homes and support the Government’s ambition to address the housing crisis. However, we believe that success should be measured not simply by the number of homes built, but by the number of genuinely affordable council and social homes delivered to those who need them most.

In particular, we are concerned that large areas of open countryside in the Green Belt are being promoted for development under the banner of grey belt. Many of these schemes are overwhelmingly delivering market housing, while opportunities remain to regenerate urban areas, develop brownfield sites, bring empty homes back into use and make better use of existing planning permissions.

In our letter, we urge the Government to maintain a robust brownfield-first approach and ensure that Green Belt land is only considered once all reasonable urban alternatives have been exhausted. We also call for a renewed focus on delivering the council and social housing that working people and families across Hertfordshire urgently need.

Our full letter to the Secretary of State is available for download here.

Our letter to the Secretary of State