Labour ready to cap gains from sale of green belt land

The government is preparing to limit the amount landowners can receive from selling green belt land, handing councils the power to cheaply buy up land that previously would have been ineligible for development as part of its plan to tackle the housing crisis.

- MILLIE COOKE

In areas with the greatest housing need, landowners could also find themselves penalised for refusing to sell land. Councils would be able to force them to sell land at a “benchmark” value – which would be lower than the market value of similar sites outside the green belt.

The measures come during concern that in areas of high property prices, such as around London and the South East, landowners could cash in on sites which previously had low development value. To address this, ministers are consulting on plans to set a “benchmark” value for the land that would put a limit on the amount that landowners could charge.