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Labour’s new “grey belt” vision must be “persuasive” because of the controversial nature of the policy.
The comments were made by Fergus Charlton, a partner in the urban planning practice at law firm Micklemores, who also said that Labour needed to ensure enough green space was rezoned to make any real difference.
A housing bill is due to be announced via a King’s Speech on Wednesday and is likely to include measures to reclassify poor quality areas of the Green Belt as Grey Belt.
“Rebranding the Green Belt as the Grey Belt will be controversial – there is a powerful lobby which regards the Green Belt as sacrosanct,” Mr Charlton said.
“For a rebranding to be effective, it needs to be compelling enough for people to forget what it was before. Whether this happens will depend on the details of the policy.”
“There will be little to be gained if we are still required to demonstrate ‘very special circumstances’ to proceed with new development in Greybild.”
Mr Charlton also welcomed Labour’s reintroduction of mandatory housing targets for local authorities, as the Government wants to help build 1.5 million homes across the country this Parliament.
Charlton added: “This top-down approach has historically been effective in incentivising local authorities to grant more building permits.”
“Setting clear goals has the potential to overcome local opposition and NIMBYism that often impedes development.”
“Reforming hope value payments under compulsory acquisition rules would reduce the costs for local authorities to acquire land for redevelopment and affordable housing by compensating landowners based on current market value rather than future potential value through planning permission.”