GREENBELT UNDER THREAT FROM NEW SELL OFF PRACTICES
October 5, 2005 12:00 AM
Greenbelt sites all over the country have come under a new threat as developers increasingly use the practice of buying greenbelt land only to sell it off in smaller building plots but with no building permission granted. Greg Mulholland MP has today written to the Alan Johnson MP, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry urging him to review these practices stating they are unnecessarily adding to the increasing pressure to build on the greenbelt.
Buyers of these 'farmyard' plots are being attracted by the prospect of an affordable first step onto the property ladder with the added potential to make huge profits if planning permission is granted. Some investors are calculated to make up to one thousand percent profit on their original investment if building permission is awarded. But many campaigners are worried that these practices are creating increasing pressure to build on the greenbelt and prevent the land from being used for agricultural use as the new owners pursue a change of use status for the land.
Yvette Cooper MP, Minister for Housing and Planning, recently restated the government commitment to protect the Greenbelt stating there is a 'general presumption against inappropriate developments within them.'
Commenting, Greg Mulholland MP, whose Leeds North West constituency has recently witnessed this kind of sales practice, said:
"With the Greenbelt already under enormous pressure, this is a practice we could well do without.
"Because of this new practice thousands more people are now trying to build on greenbelt areas. Rather than a dream home in the countryside, many have instead found themselves in dodgy territory.
"They pay substantial amounts of money for these plots but to recoup their initial investment they need to obtain a change of use for their land. Worryingly, this very much makes it a one way street for investors and potentially the future of the greenbelt.
"I hope the use of these sales practices will receive an urgent review by the government and discontinue as soon as possible before development pressures overwhelm our greenbelt areas."
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