Green Belt builders get more green lights

The number of new homes approved in the green belt has more than doubled in a year, and is up 430% since 2010, according to Glenigan, which provides data on the construction industry. Planning permission was granted for 11,977 homes in England’s 14 green belts in the year to the end of March, up from 5,607 in the previous 12 months. Paul Miner, planning campaign manager at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, called the figures: “Very worrying.” Leonie Oliva, at Deloitte Real Estate, said developers were working harder to unlock undeveloped sites: "It's always going to be a somewhat subjective judgment as to whether there are 'very special circumstances that outweigh harm to the greenbelt' as the law dictates," she said. "The 2012 planning reform may have shifted perceptions somewhat."