Young People More Likely to Favour Building on Green Belt Land: Poll

The Adam Smith Institute commissioned research into public opinion on housing and found 58 percent of people were opposed to building homes on green belt land.

Builders constructing homes on the Chilmington development in Ashford, Kent, England, on Jan. 13, 2020. PA

There is widespread agreement Britain faces a housing crisis and 49 percent of people aged 18–24 support building on green belt land, considerably higher than the national average, according to an opinion poll commissioned by the Adam Smith Institute.

Earlier this year the Labour Party signalled its willingness to build on green belt land around the major cities in England. Last month Sir Keir Starmer promised to build 1.5 million homes if Labour win the general election, and said he planned a series of new towns, similar to those constructed after the Second World War.

The Adam Smith Institute has suggested the government use compulsory purchase powers to buy up land and then issue shares to landowners, local residents, councils, and the Treasury, which could be traded on the stock market.

They said this could help build 3.8 million homes and raise £938 billion for the public purse over the next 15 years.

Tory MPs Back Compensation for Green Belt

Three Tory MPs who are patrons of the institute—Sir Brandon Lewis, Sir Jake Berry, and Sir Robert Buckland—have backed the idea.

Sir Brandon told The Telegraph: “Housing is a complicated issue. But by showing how we can garner support for new housing, whether it be through improved infrastructure or giving local people a share in the profits, the Adam Smith Institute points the way to the delivery of the homes we need.”

The Telegraph described the idea as being used to “compensate nimbys,” or “not in my back yard,” but only 27 percent of those polled about the idea supported it, with another 37 percent sure “unsure” about the proposal.

But those figures rose markedly among young people, with 37 percent of those aged 18–24 backing it, and 40 percent of those aged 25–34 supportive.

The Adam Smith Institute commissioned JL Partners to undertake the poll and the institute’s director of communications, Emily Fielder, said in a statement, “The polling showed that there is an overwhelming belief that there is a housing crisis, both nationally and in local areas.”

“Both groups are concerned about a lack of affordable housing, that young people will be unable to get onto the property ladder, the impact on homelessness, high house prices, and the impact of interest rate increases on mortgages,” she added.

The poll found 77 percent of respondents agreeing there was a national housing crisis, although only 53 percent felt there was a crisis in their own area.

The area where people were most likely to feel there was a housing crisis was London (65 percent) and the lowest was in the eastern region—comprising East Anglia—where the figure was only 40 percent.

The policy of building new towns was unpopular, with 59 percent of respondents believing “new housing developments should be focused on expanding existing communities.”

This figure was even higher among young people, with 69 percent of 18–24-year-olds favouring extending existing towns and cities, suggesting they were keen to stay in the areas where they grew up.

Only 32 percent of the public supported building on green belt land, even with compensation, although this jumped to 49 percent among the 18–24 age group and 42 percent of those aged 25–34, the demographic most likely to include those trying to buy a first home.

The government is opposed to building on green belt land and the Conservatives look set to go into next year’s election campaign hoping this policy will be popular with voters.

In May, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “On the green belt, I was very clear over the summer [of 2022] what I was going to do, which was move away from a system of nationally imposed top-down housing targets on local areas. I don’t think that is the right approach.”

But the Telegraph reported in September that he was coming under pressure from Tory backbenchers who favoured relaxation of the rules on building on green belt land because they felt insufficient numbers of homes could be built on brownfield sites.

The survey took place in August this year and was collected using online polling of 1,001 members of the public.

JL Partners said there was a 3.1 percent margin of error.