The migration debate in the UK always raises concerns that the UK is “full”, but the statistics suggest that this assertion is far from accurate, In fact, it’s estimated that between 88% and 99.9% of the UK isn’t currently developed or built on, creating the significant potential to create new housing and infrastructure.
Of course, not all of the remainder is suitable for development, but significant swathes of the country could be built on if the political will existed and projects were put into motion.
At the heart of this is the UK’s ‘Metropolitan Green Belt’, which thanks to recent legislation changes can now be built on in “exceptional circumstances”. But does the government have plans to develop green belt space as a way of meeting rising housing demand?
The Rising Population in the UK
There’s no doubt that the UK’s population is rising, and this trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future at least.
More specifically, the UK’s current population of around 66.65 million is projected to breach the 70 million mark by 2029, before peaking at an estimated 71.6 million by 2033.
This population increase will largely be driven by migration, with the number of people entering into the UK during the aforementioned time period set to be 45% higher than those emigrating overseas.
A natural increase of births over deaths (which is being underpinned by sustained medical advances) will account for the remaining 55% of the projected 10.2 million rise between now and 2033, creating a significant challenge in terms of available space and infrastructure spending in the country.
Why is Building on the Greenbelt so Problematic?
It’s interesting to note that there has been a distinct lack of infrastructure spending during the last decade, however, and this includes investing in the construction of adequate housing.
While this is partly an issue of investment, however, the government has also been historically limited in terms of where it can build.
This is where the so-called “Metropolitan Green Belt'' comes into play, with this mass of land covering more than one million acres (405,700 hectares) that encircles London. It crosses the border of dozens of councils, and was specifically designed to stop urban sprawl and the destruction of several historic towns on the outskirts of the capital.
However, sweeping changes to England’s planning rules have changed the landscape significantly of late, allowing construction on England’s Green Belt albeit only in “exceptional circumstances”.
It isn’t clear what exactly constitutes “exceptional circumstances”, of course, but the concern remains that this law has been passed specifically to move in on Green Belt land.
The Last Word
There are many considerations when building and buying properties, from remaining within budget to the cost of hiring a skilled conveyancing lawyer or legal firm.
From a developmental perspective, however, restrictions imposed at specific locations provide one of the biggest challenges, with the vast swathes of Green Belt land previously inaccessible and one of the reasons why so little of the UK has been actively built on.
The new legislation means that it's now possible to build on Green Belt land in some instances, however, with this potentially enabling the government to increase its home building efforts in line with increased demand.
The government has failed to build enough houses each year dating back to the latter days of New Labour, and the decision to allow developers access to the Green Belt may finally help to reverse this trend.
