Only one in 10 green belt homes 'affordable', says countryside group

Campaign for Protection of Rural England says brownfield land offers more opportunities

Only one in 10 homes built on green belt land in England in the last decade has been classed as affordable, undermining the case for the development of supposedly protected areas, according to countryside campaigners.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England also found that only a third of the 266,000 future new homes currently proposed for green belt land around the country are likely to be affordable. In a report published on Monday, called Space to Breathe, the charity said most green belt developments were inefficient, with only 14 homes for each hectare instead of the 31 for each hectare that is the average on other land.