The London mayor has put his full backing behind building on Green Belt despite vowing to protect it for his first eight years at City Hall, reports Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter

Thousands of homes must be built on London’s Metropolitan Green Belt in order to fix the capital’s housing crisis, Sir Sadiq Khan will argue in a controversial speech today (Friday 9th).

In a move billed by the mayor as a “radical step-change” at City Hall, Khan said he wants to be “honest with Londoners” that only building on already-developed brownfield land “will never be enough to meet the scale of the challenge”.

Khan’s official Green Belt policy U-turn, after vowing to protect it for his first eight years as mayor, was announced during the public examination of Enfield Council’s Local Plan in January, as reported by Enfield Dispatch at the time. The plan, still yet to be approved, proposes de-designating 436 hectares of Green Belt in the borough to allow 9,651 homes to be built there.

The mayor’s promise today to “forge a new consensus on planning that’s fit for 21st Century London” has been welcomed by Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, who said Khan had the government’s “backing to deliver the housing this city needs”.

But the mayor’s political opponents, along with the Campaign to Protect Rural England, believe his new approach will deliver “a devastating blow to the environment and our green spaces”.

Khan said: “A generation of Londoners now simply can’t afford to rent, let alone buy a home.

“We have young professionals stuck living in their childhood bedrooms for years on end; Londoners having to endure cold, damp accommodation that isn’t fit for human habitation; couples reluctantly moving out of the capital to start a family; and London primary schools closing because young families have been priced out of the area.

“At the sharpest end of this crisis, Londoners are being forced to sleep rough on the streets and over 90,000 children are officially homeless.

“It breaks my heart. The damage the housing crisis is causing is pervasive and profound. We simply cannot let it continue.”

In an effort to assuage fears over development on treasured green spaces, the mayor added: “The perception many people have is that the Green Belt is all beautiful countryside, green and pleasant land, rich with wildlife.

“The reality is very different. The Green Belt can often be low-quality land, poorly maintained and rarely enjoyed by Londoners. Only around 13% is made up of parks and areas that the public can access.”

City Hall’s “new position”, he explained, will be to “actively explore the release of parts of London’s Green Belt for development”.

At the same time, the mayor will seek to “assure Londoners that we’ll attach the right conditions to any release of the Green Belt”, while ensuring “we increase biodiversity and public access to good quality green spaces”.

Khan’s announced in January that a comprehensive review of London’s Metropolitan Green Belt would be carried out to identify sites which fit the government’s definition of ‘grey belt’ land – essentially comprising “poor quality” plots of land, mostly on the capital’s fringe, which are nonetheless protected from development.

But the mayor’s office says that in addition to this review, “City Hall will go further than identifying grey belt”, and will “explore all possible options for unlocking enough land to meet housing need across the capital”.

It comes as Khan launches a consultation to help shape the next London Plan, which will set out how the capital should develop over the coming 20 to 25 years.

In an open letter to Londoners ahead of that consultation, the London branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England has argued that “building more homes, especially high-cost ones on Green Belt land, won’t solve” the housing crisis. The group points out that around 300,000 homes in London “have planning permission but haven’t been built”, which they say indicates that the planning system itself is not to blame.

Zoe Garbett, a Green member of the London Assembly who stood against Khan in last year’s mayoral election, said despite the mayor’s stated ambition of ensuring homes built on the Green Belt are “affordable”, this is “just developer-speak for housing that’s still out of reach for most people”.

She added: “This project will just recreate the same broken housing model that’s left so many Londoners struggling – high rents, empty homes and landlords buying up more social housing.

“Not only will this fail to solve London’s housing crisis, but it’s also a devastating blow to the environment and our green spaces, especially during a climate emergency. Not exactly what you’d expect from the self-declared ‘greenest mayor’ ever.”

But the government has applauded Khan’s “step change”. Rayner said: “A whole generation of Londoners will be able to tell you of the horror stories they’ve faced while trying to find a suitable home in our capital.

“We cannot end the housing crisis and build the 1.5 million homes we need without London being ambitious in its approach. That’s why the government welcomes the bold proposal announced by the mayor today, which rises to the challenge of tackling London’s housing crisis.

“The mayor of London has our backing to deliver the housing this city needs, in line with our ambition nationally, to unlock the dream of a secure home for a generation.”

The news was also welcomed by business advocacy group BusinessLDN, with deputy chief executive Muniya Barua calling it “an approach we have long championed”.

She cautioned however that “the planning reforms being introduced by both the government and City Hall will require backing with hard cash during next month’s spending review” and added: “This will be vital to unlock additional private investment that can support a step-change in the delivery of affordable homes, as well as major transport and infrastructure projects required to boost growth.”

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