{"id":700900,"date":"2023-06-12T05:42:20","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T04:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=700900"},"modified":"2023-06-12T13:14:39","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T12:14:39","slug":"building-on-the-green-belt-will-not-solve-the-housing-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/building-on-the-green-belt-will-not-solve-the-housing-crisis","title":{"rendered":"Building on the green belt will not solve the housing crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

I grew up in a small village called Toddington, surrounded by fields and beautiful countryside. It was a small place, once famed for having the most pubs per head of any village in the United Kingdom. One pub, the Angel, was frequented by the poet William Blake, while another, the Sow & Pigs, boasted broadcaster Kevin McCloud as one of its bartenders.<\/p>\n

It was a quiet rural upbringing, and although I travelled to the county town for my schooling, I loved exploring the arable fields with friends and occasionally finding sheep in our front garden. I didn’t realise until I left home, but I had grown to enjoy the smell of manure that wafted across the village from the neighbouring fields in the summer.<\/p>\n

So, it was troubling when on 22 September 2022, Liz Truss announced that she would ‘rip up green planning laws’ to boost the number of homes built in the UK. The ignominious departure of Ms Truss meant our green and pleasant land received a stay of execution. However, in May 2023, the Labour leader Kier Starmer said that he would relax planning rules on greenbelt land to boost the number of homes built in the UK. So it seems our green belt is once again under threat.<\/p>\n

Both leaders have cited the need for more housing as the basis for their decisions, and while I agree that we need more houses, I’m afraid I have to disagree with their reasoning. This country lacks housing, but allowing unfettered buildings on greenbelt land is not the answer. Relaxing these planning laws will accelerate the destruction of the country’s natural habitat and, worse still, it will not provide housing in the right density or locations needed to solve the problem.<\/p>\n

Edge-of-city brownfield sites are perfect for creating new communities that will thrive<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, if we do need to build on greenbelt land, then we should discuss this, but ripping up the rule book and allowing the UK\u2019s big housebuilders to build cookie-cutter estates on the green belt is not the solution. It would be a disaster for both the natural environment and the housing crisis.<\/p>\n

I have no idea who advised Starmer on housing policy, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t an architect; I’m certain of it. I could name 20 architects off the top of my head that Starmer could consult with on the housing crisis, and I’m sure that building on the green belt would not be top of any of their lists of solutions.<\/p>\n

Before I continue, and for the sake of transparency, I should say that the estate I grew up in was built in the 1980s on farmland. Yes, I lived on precisely the type of estate I’ve just admonished in the previous paragraph. In my defence, I was 10 when we moved, so I had very little input into the decision, so save your Twitter vitriol for my parents.<\/p>\n

We need more homes in this country, but we also need to protect greenbelt land. That’s an interesting paradigm but solvable if only our leaders would consult with our industry meaningfully and resist the temptation to spout shortsighted column-inch-grabbing rhetoric. If they did this, perhaps we could protect the natural environment and build enough homes for the nation.<\/p>\n

There should be a task force of architects, developers, and construction experts that guide the government regarding housing policy. As an industry, we have the knowledge, experience and desire to solve both the climate and housing crises. Our industry’s biggest challenge is to devise a development strategy for edge-of-city brownfield sites. These locations make them perfect for creating new communities that will thrive, new homes that (because of their density) can be affordable.<\/p>\n

These brownfield developments could be built on a scale that commercially enables bars, restaurants, schools, theatres and all the amenities for modern life to be provided on-site. We won’t have to build on greenbelt land if we can also immerse these developments in nature, encouraging people living in an urban setting to engage and connect with the natural world.<\/p>\n

I recently listened to author and rewilding exponent Isabella Tree on BBC Radio 4, and she said that \u2018cities are where we will win the battle against climate change\u2019. So if only our leaders would dispense with their lazy binary thinking and create a system that allows our industry to share its knowledge, we could develop homes and communities where people want to live. Communities that have everything they need and are immersed in nature. If achieved, this reimagining of the urban-living narrative will mean that we may well be able to have our cake and eat it.<\/p>\n

Research<\/h3>\n

https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2022\/09\/21\/liz-truss-rip-green-planning-laws-bid-kickstart-housebuilding\/<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-politics-65619675<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2023\/may\/18\/rishi-sunak-stands-by-pledge-to-protect-green-belt-after-starmer-housing-comments<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I grew up in a small village called Toddington, surrounded by fields and beautiful countryside. It was a small place, once famed for having the most pubs per head of any village in the United Kingdom. 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