Law firm urges Labour to be persuasive and brave on grey belt

The new Labour “grey belt” initiative needs to be ‘persuasive’ due to the contentious nature of the policy.

That’s according to Fergus Charlton, a partner in law firm Michlemores’ planning practice, who also commented that Labour needs to ensure a sufficient amount of green belt is reclassified for it to make a substantial difference.

On Wednesday the housing bill is expected to be unveiled via the King’s speech, which should include measures around reclassifying poor quality parts of the green belt as the grey belt.

Charlton said:

“The re-branding of green belt to grey belt will be contentious.

“There are powerful lobbies who consider the green belt to be sacrosanct.

“To be effective re-brandings must be so persuasive that the public forget the previous incarnation.

“Whether this happens will depend on the details of policy.

“If new developments in the grey built are still required to show ‘very special circumstances’ to proceed then little will be gained.”

Charlton went on to welcome Labour’s reintroduction of mandatory housing targets for local councils, as the government is looking to help the country build 1.5 million homes over the course of this parliament.

Charlton added:

“This top-down approach has historically been effective at incentivising local authorities to approve more building.

“Setting clear targets could help overcome local opposition and NIMBYism that often blocks development.

“Reforming the payment of hope value under the compulsory purchase rules will make it cheaper for local authorities to acquire land for regeneration and affordable housing by compensating landowners based on current market value rather than potential future value with planning permission.”

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