By Vivienne Russell | 21 February 2014
Councils should follow Whitehall’s lead and release more unused land for development, housing minister Kris Hopkins has urged.
Hopkins said central government departments had between them sold 430 brownfield sites for development, releasing enough land to support the construction of 68,000 homes, equivalent to the size of Blackpool.
‘The government is a major landholder and hard-working taxpayers expect us to use these assets effectively,’ said Hopkins.
‘We’re making it easier for the public to see what land we own, and challenge us if they think they could use it better. Councils should now follow our lead, and consider if their land and property could be sold and used for delivering new homes, jobs and businesses in their communities.’
Among the public land holdings to have been sold for development is Booth Hall Hospital in Salford, which closed in 2009 and will be replaced by a development of two-, three- and four-bedroom homes. In Northampton, the former Princess Marina Hospital and campus will be developed into 550 homes and 4,000 square metres of commercial space.
The next phase in the government’s land-release project is the launch of a ‘Rightmove’-style website, searchable by postcode and town, covering all public sector land from vacant airfields to motorway lay-bys.
Two schemes, the Right to Contest and the Right to Reclaim Land, allow members of the public to challenge both central and local government bodies about land and property they believe could be put to better use.
