Interactive map of
England's green belts

According to The National Planning Policy Framework, the “fundamental aim of Green Belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open”. The policy began in the 1930s as increasing car ownership meant cities – particularly London – were expanding rapidly outwards.

The original Green Belt was only meant to be two miles wide around London – in some places it is now over 30 miles wide. As you can see on our map there are also Green Belts around Oxford, Cambridge, Cheltenham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Birmingham, Nottingham, Stoke-on-Trent and York. There is effectively a huge north-west/north-central Green Belt covering Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield, and a north-eastern one for Newcastle, Sunderland and Durham. Large towns that sit within the London Green Belt include Watford and Guildford.

Although the original idea of the Green Belt was that is should be public open spaces. But that’s not what has happened as they have grown. A total of 35% of all Green Belt land across England is used for ecologically damaging intensive farming. Within the boundaries of Greater London, 22% of all land is Green Belt, but only 22% of that is public land while 7.1% of it is golf courses.

While getting planning permission in a Green Belt is difficult, it also happens all the time. Tactics for Green Belt planning permission include looking for councils that are missing their housing targets or areas on the edge of existing settlements, the replacement of existing structures, and outstanding and innovative housing. You can read about all this in much more detail here.