DESPITE a surge in demand for time in green space, the Green Belt – the countryside next door for 30 million people – is facing extreme and sustained pressure, according to new research from countryside charity the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England.
The annual State of Greenbelt 2021 report reveals there are currently 257,944 homes proposed to be built on land removed from the Green Belt – more than four times as many as in 2013.
With only one in ten considered affordable, these new homes will do little to tackle the affordable housing crisis.
The charity adds that this pressure is only set to increase under changes to the planning system currently being considered by the government.
CPRE says the new formula to determine housing supply proposed by the government could lead to at least a 35 per cent increase in housing on the Green Belt.
