Property developers prepare for green belt ‘gold rush’ as ​​Chancellor pushes for construction sector revival

Developers are preparing for a green belt “gold rush” following Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ pledge to cut red tape and initiate a wave of house building in the UK.

The phones are ringing off the hook as housebuilders, estates and property companies prepare to take advantage of the Chancellor’s push to free up green belt land for development and get Britain building again.

Jon Stoddart, head of London and South East planning at property consultancy CBRE, commented: “We are swamped. The phone has been ringing off the hook for the past few days. It almost feels like there could be some kind of gold rush, some kind of stampede of developers thinking ‘well, actually this is a new era and maybe it’s best to build out planning applications’.”

The increase follows Reeves’ first speech as Chancellor, in which she announced “urgent steps” to achieve the government’s central mission of “igniting economic growth,” including reintroducing mandatory housing targets for local governments and reviewing green belt areas.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner will direct local planning authorities to review the green belt boundaries, prioritizing former industrial brownfields and so-called gray belt lands for development to meet housing targets.

The green belt area, which encompasses sixteen town areas across England, is protected from development and covers roughly an eighth of England’s land area. Much of this land is in the main commuter belt areas around London, traditionally Tory heartlands. Labour’s manifesto promised to release gray belt sites, such as disused car parks, for housing development.

Knight Frank has identified 11,000 potential gray belt sites, which could deliver 200,000 new family homes. Developers and landowners are now evaluating new opportunities to build.

Mr Stoddart said: “They say ‘we have a lot of sites that can be classified as gray belt and are well located near train stations’. There is a new emphasis on actually working on this.”

One leisure company with “huge” green belt locations is exploring ways to capitalize on this opportunity. If these locations were to be reclassified as gray band, their activities and diversification prospects could increase significantly.

The Chancellor’s announcement that Ms Rayner has already received two planning applications for data centers in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire is a clear message to developers that a cautious approach is no longer worthwhile.

Stoddart added: “If they had played a reasonably patient game under the old regime and not submitted a planning application, if they had not just been refused or had been after public inquiry, then they will have missed out.”

Mark Evans, head of regional housing development at Knight Frank, added that the green belt has “huge potential” to unlock land, anticipating a significant increase in interest from landowners and housebuilders in the coming weeks.

Evans added: “We expect landlords from such sites [grey belt] to emerge as they evaluate the implications of the new administration’s policy change.”

Despite the expected wave of building applications, experts warn that high mortgage rates and environmental regulations could hinder actual housing construction.

Stoddart warned: “Even without red tape, there will still be huge challenges to building as homeowner demand is currently limited by high interest rates.”

Evans also warned that Labour’s demand for half of homes on these sites to be classified as ‘affordable’ could make many potential sites unviable due to insufficient profitability.

He concluded: “A balanced approach that takes into account both housing needs and economic viability will be essential if new homes are to be delivered following this change in green belt policy.”