CPRE: Brownfield land could deliver one million new homes

UK towns and cities have room to add one million new homes simply by making use of derelict and vacant land.

That is the headline conclusion of a new analysis undertaken by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), which argues there is still huge potential to address the on-going housing crisis within urban boundaries, minimising environmental impacts in the process.

The campaign group analysed councils' Brownfield Land Registers and found there is space to accommodate more than one million new homes, two-thirds of which are ‘shovel ready' and could make an immediate contribution to meeting housing need, as they have been confirmed as being deliverable within five years.

"Prioritising this land, which councils have shown is ready and waiting to be redeveloped, would not only help to transform run-down areas, and provide more homes, but also prevent the unnecessary loss of precious countryside and green spaces for housing," the group said.

The report also argues that brownfield land is a renewable resource and could provide "a steady pipeline of housing", given more than 120,000 of the potential new homes have been added to the registers in the past year alone.

In addition it argues that the registers of brownfield land could provide conservative estimates on the scale of land that is potentially available, suggesting that the current definition of 'previously developed land' means a large number of sites are currently being missed. It also highlights how housing density assumptions for the land that has been identified are low and suggests that by increasing the density of housing built on brownfield land, councils would be able to deliver more homes.

Recent research by CPRE London in the Borough of Enfield found space for at least 37,000 homes on a wide range of types of brownfield land, the group said, compared to just 2,170 homes identified on Enfield's most recently published register in December 2017.

The report also notes that many of the areas where housing shortages are said to be at their most severe, such as London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Sheffield, have identified land available for regeneration that would provide almost half a million homes.

"Building on brownfield land presents a fantastic opportunity to simultaneously remove local eyesores and breathe new life into areas crying out for regeneration," said Rebecca Pullinger, planning campaigner at the Campaign to Protect Rural England. "It will help to limit the amount of countryside lost to development, and build more homes in areas where people want to live, with infrastructure, amenities and services already in place.

"Councils have worked hard to identify space suitable for more than one million new homes. But until we have a brownfield first approach to development, and all types of previously developed land are considered, a large number of sites that could be transformed into desperately needed new homes will continue to be overlooked. The government, local councils and house builders must work hard to bring these sites forward for development and get building."

Environmental campaigners are continuing to push back against proposals that could see Green Belt protections relaxed in a bid to accelerate housing development. However, developers and housing charities have countered that planning reforms are urgently needed to increase the supply of new homes.

The analysis from CPRE comes just days after a new official report warned the UK was on track to miss nearly all of the biodiversity targets for 2020 that it signed up to a decade ago.

An analysis by Joint Nature Conservation Committee, reported by the Guardian last week, revealed that of the 19 targets set by the UK under the global Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) insufficient progress is being made on 14, including the conservation status of threatened species, the loss and degradation of natural habitats through neglect or development, and pledges to curb agricultural pollution.