Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an estimate of the proportion of green belt land that could be re-designated as grey belt land in (a) Romford constituency and (b) Havering.

In our consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and other changes to the planning system, it was suggested that grey belt land be defined as Green Belt land which makes a limited contribution to the Green Belt's purposes, as set out in paragraph 143 of the current NPPF. The Government is proposing that assessments of what land is identified as grey belt be undertaken by local planning authorities themselves, informed by relevant guidance. As such, the department is unable to provide the estimate requested.