More than 1,000 homes ‘could be built on town’s brownfield sites’

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said there is enough vacant brownfield sites in towns and cities across England and Wales to build more than one million new homes – two thirds of which could be delivered within five years.

It has called on the Government to force councils to prioritise brownfield development instead of building homes on green spaces.

In Scarborough, the CPRE says there is capacity to build 1,048 homes across 24 sites.

Of these, 91%, or 956 homes, could be delivered within five years.

The brownfield sites now on the register in Scarborough cover a combined area of 59 acres, according to the data.

Rebecca Pullinger, planning campaigner at the CPRE, said: “Building on brownfield land presents a fantastic opportunity to simultaneously remove local eyesores and breathe new life into areas crying out for regeneration.

“It will help to limit the amount of countryside lost to development, and build more homes in areas where people want to live, with infrastructure, amenities and services already in place.”

The CPRE analysed Scarborough Borough Council’s Brownfield Land Register, which lists sites that the council says are suitable for development.

A brownfield site is defined as land that “is or was occupied by a permanent structure”.

The Local Government Association said councils had already given hundreds of thousands of homes planning permission which have yet to be built.

It called for better resourcing for council planning departments, to ensure developers build homes as quickly as possible.

Housing Minister Kit Malthouse, said: “This Government is committed to building the homes our country needs while still leaving the environment in a better state than we found it.”