Review of Manchester green belt could supply 500,000 new homes

The Centre for Cities think tank estimate nearly 500,000 new homes could be built in and around Greater Manchester by reforming the green belt to build within walking distance of train stations.

In their report, titled “Homes on the Right Tracks: Where can we build new homes?”, the Centre for Cities analysed the amount of available land within 800 metres of commuter stations that could become available for building new homes, but is currently protected by its location in green belt surrounding Manchester and other major cities.

The report named villages such as Strines and Adlington as ones that have the potential to host the greatest number of homes in reach of Stockport. Developments in these areas could supply housing without needing additional public transport due to existing rail links, reducing the need for commuters to rely on cars as in other rural developments.

As well as Greater Manchester, the report also looked at stations within a 45 minute journey time of London, Birmingham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Bristol as part of the research. Centre for Cities concluded that reforms of green belt protection could deliver 2.1 million homes, including 494,000 in reach of Manchester.

The report omitted areas of green belt which are within Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, or National Parks. Instead Centre for Cities call for green belt protection around Manchester and other major cities to be reformed to provide sustainable housing developments within existing communities.

Paul Cheshire CBE, Emeritus Professor of Economic Geography at the London School of Economics, said:

We need to protect cherished land for public benefit but that is not the purpose of Green Belt designation. It is simply to have empty spaces between cities and prevent development. The land does not need to be ‘green’ – most is privately owned and the biggest use of it is for intensive agriculture.

“Our housing crisis is corroding social trust and causing serious inequality as well as economic inefficiencies as people cannot find affordable homes in places they want to live. It is time to use land for its best social purpose: not to remain fenced in by inflexible boundaries imposed in 1955. These proposals align incentives to use our land for genuine public benefit while reducing our carbon footprint as well as funding needed infrastructure and social housing.”

Andrew Carter, Centre for Cities’ Chief Executive, said:

We often talk about the need to build 300,000 new homes a year to tackle the housing crisis. But less often do we talk about where in the country these homes need to be built to make a difference.

“Housing provision should follow where people need to live for work. This means building in and around larger cities with lots of jobs. Using existing commuter infrastructure as a base to deliver accessible new homes near our biggest cities could be the simplest way to do this – but it will require political will and compromise on the greenbelt.

“If these new homes are delivered close to where they are needed near big cities then they will have access to workers to grow their economies and raise local productivity. But if we continue to stall on this then our biggest cities, and the millions of people living in them, will soon pay a big economic price.”