Time to Revisit the Brownfield v Greenfield Policy
In December 2023, Nick Taylor, a partner in Carter Jonas's planning and development team, argued that England's long preference for brownfield over greenfield sites has hampered housebuilding for decades, contributing to a delivery crisis and a deeper shortfall in affordable homes.
He traced the policy to the 1990s, when a target of 60 per cent of new homes on brownfield land was proposed and Planning Policy Guidance Note 3 set out a sequential approach. Within three years it looked to be failing, and the 2003 Barker Review interim report observed that some councils had read the policy too strictly, to the detriment of supply. The target was later dropped, but the current NPPF still asks strategic policies to maximise reuse of previously developed land.
Taylor said the underlying failure is a planning system that is not truly plan-led, because many authorities lack up-to-date plans. He listed reasons for rising opposition to greenfield schemes: general NIMBYism, worries that developments do not pay their way because infrastructure arrives late, a naive view of brownfield economics (where costs, together with CIL, Section 106 and Vacant Building Credit, squeeze affordable housing), and the assumption that brownfield supply is sufficient. In his figures, against a 300,000-home annual target there is brownfield capacity for only around 90,000, leaving 210,000 to come from greenfield.
He proposed four top-down changes. One was the NPPF proposal to allow land purchase at existing use value for schemes with high affordable housing levels, which he expected to be slow but worth trying. Another was restoring Green Belt boundary reviews within plan-making, which he thought a Labour government would do early on. Third, firm dates for Local Plan reviews, with either enforcement or automatic consents if deadlines are missed. Fourth, a more balanced approach that encourages brownfield first but lets councils choose greenfield where it is the best route, provided affordable housing and community infrastructure contributions are maximised.
Source: UK Property Forums, original article (12 December 2023)
