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Greg Mulholland-Working Hard For Leeds North WestMULHOLLAND CALLS UPON OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING TO INVESTIGATE 'LANDBANKING'
March 7, 2007 12:00 AM
Greg Mulholland MP has written to the Office of Fair Trading today, requesting them to investigate the practice of 'land banking' - the subdivision and sale of land, often greenbelt, on the basis of prospective development - under their remit of protecting the consumer in the marketplace.
Mr Mulholland has worked with a range of concerned parties on this issue, including principally the Campaign to Protect Rural England, in the hopes that this practice can be brought to an end.
Commenting Mr Mulholland said:
"This alarming practice is not only putting protected areas like our green belt at risk, but individual investors are being encouraged to plough money into these schemes on the basis of highly dubious claims made by these land banking organisations.
"Investors are seduced by claims of huge returns on their investments provided that planning permission on the land they buy is granted, when often in reality this is extremely unlikely."
"It is my hope that the Office for Fair Trading will launch a formal investigation into this practice; it simply cannot be good for consumers that they are being seduced by these misleading claims."