Statistics recently published by the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities, reveal that England's green belt has increased by 860 hectares.  Despite eight local authorities having released land from the green belt in the period from March 2022 to March 2023, the overall national amount has increased.   

The majority of the increase came from North Hertfordshire who added 3,350 hectares to the green belt. The only other local authority to increase their boundary was Cheshire East, by 10 hectares. 

Of the eight local authorities that took land out of the green belt, St Helens Borough Council and Blackpool Council released the highest percentages of green belt land within their boundaries, by 10% and 12% respectively. 

The political stances on the green belt differ drastically between the leading political parties. Sir Kier Starmer has stated that Labour will consider green belt release to ensure that his party's proposals for 1.5 million new homes in five years can be delivered.  In contrast, Rishi Sunak is standing by his pledge to protect the green belt, despite reports of some Conservative MPs urging Sunak to relax this position. 

There is no doubt that the green belt will be a hot topic of conversation in the lead up to the 2024 general election so watch this space…