DEVASSIST: Government indicates inspector may have misapplied grey belt policy test

The government has signalled that it may concede a legal error in a planning appeal decision involving proposed housing on green belt land, after accepting that the relevant national policy test may not have been applied correctly.

The case concerns proposals for three homes on a small parcel of green belt land in Kingswood, Warwickshire. Both the local planning authority and the developer agreed that the site fell within the category commonly referred to as “grey belt”, meaning it did not make a strong contribution to several of the core green belt purposes set out in national policy.

Despite that agreement, the scheme was refused and the subsequent appeal dismissed.

Appeal refusal turns on the interpretation of national policy

The planning application, submitted in early 2025, was refused by Warwick District Council on the basis that it would amount to inappropriate development in the green belt. The council concluded that the proposal would harm openness and did not fall within any recognised policy exception.

An appeal was lodged with the Planning Inspectorate. In a decision issued in December 2025, the appointed inspector upheld the refusal, accepting that although the land was a grey belt, the proposal failed to meet the criteria set out in paragraph 155 of the National Planning Policy Framework.

In particular, the inspector concluded that the development would undermine the purposes of the green belt and therefore could not benefit from the policy exception available to certain forms of grey belt development.

Legal challenge focuses on the scope of the assessment

The developer subsequently indicated its intention to challenge the decision, arguing that the policy test had been applied too narrowly. The challenge centred on how paragraph 155 should be interpreted, and whether the inspector had properly assessed the effect of the development on the green belt across the wider plan area, rather than focusing primarily on the impact of the site itself.

The challenge also raised concerns about whether the inspector had considered the green belt purposes collectively, as required by national policy, rather than treating individual purposes in isolation.

Government signals willingness to concede error

In correspondence sent to the developer’s legal representatives in January 2026, the Government Legal Department confirmed that the Secretary of State had considered the pre-action challenge and was “minded to concede”.

While the decision has not yet been formally quashed, the concession indicates acceptance that the inspector’s reasoning may not have fully aligned with the requirements of paragraph 155. If upheld, this would mean the appeal decision is legally flawed and cannot stand in its current form.

Why this matters in practice

Although the proposal relates to a small number of homes, the case has wider significance. It underlines the importance of how grey belt policy is interpreted and applied, particularly where development is modest in scale but sits within sensitive designations.

For those assessing planning risk, the case reinforces that outcomes do not turn solely on whether land is within the green belt, but on how national policy tests are applied in context. As grey belt policy continues to be tested through appeals and legal challenges, further clarification is likely to emerge.

Understanding those shifts is increasingly important when evaluating the potential for future development and change.

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