The latest Land Use Change Statistics in England: 2017-18 has just been released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the new statistics show that the number of homes being developed on Green Belt land has halved.

The MHCLG data shows that, in 2017-18, 2% of new residential addresses created were within the Green Belt – down from 4% the previous year. Over the same period, 53% of new residential addresses created within the Green Belt were built on previously developed land – up from 51% the previous year.

“A halving of the proportion of new homes being built in the Green Belt is fantastic, but it shouldn’t be coming alongside a disappointing fall in the use of previously developed land elsewhere,” says Joseph Daniels, founder of modular developer Project Etopia.

Daniels adds: “Pressure on the Green Belt has never been higher, so the country’s use of previously developed land should only be going one way.”

Density is falling
The residential address statistics can be used to create an estimate of the density of new residential development, derived by calculating the density of all residences in the hectare surrounding a newly created residential address. In 2017-18, the average density of residential addresses surrounding a newly created residential address was 31 addresses per hectare, down from 32 addresses in 2016-17.