By Bill Wilson
BBC News Online business reporter |
 The UK is desperately short of new homes |
It only seems a few years ago since the idea of house building on brownfield sites was held up as the solution to a shortage of new homes in the UK, particularly in the south of England.
Former factories and other industrial sites would be swept aside in a flurry of "recycling activity", with local authorities speeding planning applications through while prized greenbelt land was left unspoiled.
However it has not quite worked out like that in practice.
As the recent review of housing carried out for the Treasury by the Bank of England's Kate Barker points out, an extra 39,000 new homes need to be built each year just to keep up with the UK's population growth.
Demand is especially acute in the South East, where 40,000 new homes could be built on brownfield land but where it is claimed the development is not taking place.
Various reasons have been put forward for this, including a lack of skilled labour, contamination worries, and claims that house-building firms are sitting on their plots of land.
Professor Tim Dixon from the College of Estate Management, which specialises in training professionals in the property and construction industries, says the private sector is now under the spotlight.
"We are in a situation now which is the reverse of 20 years ago, when the private sector was seen as driving development, and the public sector as holding it back.
"Now the situation has swung round, and the private sector is perceived as being slow to develop brownfield sites," he told the BBC.
'Laudable aim'
The government's sustainable communities plan means it wants to see at least 60% of new homes built on brownfield land, providing much-needed new homes while reducing pressure on the greenbelt.
Pierre Williams of the House Builders Federation says: "We want to be the drivers for urban regeneration, while at the same time solving the housing supply crisis.
 | HOUSING REPORT IN FULL The Bank of England's Kate Barker examined how the UK could build more houses. |
"Building more on brownfield and less on greenfield is a laudable aim, but there are planning and cost implications - it is the planning system that has restricted house building.
"There is a national housing need, but that is not being addressed because it is being delayed by local planning authorities.
"There is a very strong pressure at local level for local planning departments to reduce the number of development permissions they allow, including proposals for brownfield sites."
In her review Ms Barker said it was "simplistic" to see the "freeing-up" of the planning process as the end to all problems.
But Jude Shepherd, research officer at project Sustainable Urban Brownfield Regeneration: Integrated Management (SUBRIM), says there are planning issues surrounding development.
Access issues
Ms Shepherd said government proposals to replace the current planning system and local plans with Local Development Frameworks, and other Parliamentary proposals, could speed up planning.
"I think community opposition is quite an issue when it comes to developing brownfield sites - you would not think there would be a Nimby (not-in-my-back-yard) effect, as there is with greenfield proposals, but it is an issue.
"Many local communities do not want to have all infrastructure that comes with a development, for example the building of roads or car parks, and more traffic.
"However, if the planning permission is already there, then it might be the costs and techniques of redeveloping the original site that is causing a hold-up for the developer.
"Access may not be easy, which adds to cost, or there may be contamination clean-up work needed."
Development costs
Mr Williams says brownfield development is very expensive, particularly for major projects like the proposed Thames Gateway.
It is a major housing plan for London and the South East, annexing 40 miles of the Thames riverbank and stretching into Kent, Essex and Bedfordshire.
The �2 billion programme will lead to more than 200,000 new homes, with ministers saying that 80% will be built on brownfield sites.
See how the UK housing market measures up 
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"We want to build on brownfield sites like Thames Gateway, we want to create sustainable communities, which do not harm the greenbelt, " says Mr Williams.
"We need acknowledgement that help is needed on the costs of infrastructure around new developments.
"New developments have to be connective to their surroundings, and to create sustainable communities there have to be jobs, roads, schools, and other facilities for the families living there, which the government has to recognise and support."
Jude Shepherd is also studying the Thames Gateway proposal: "A key issue is whether there is an infrastructure to support a community - developers are taking a risk building on many brownfield sites, a lot are set in locations where other development is needed."
'Proud to belong'
Critics have hinted that developers are sitting on excessive amounts of brownfield development land to push up house prices, but Mr Williams says: "In total, developers are sitting on a-year-and-a-half supply, not much at all.
"It can take up to 10 years sometimes to get a major development through the planning process."
According to Professor Baker arguments about whether there is enough brownfield land available is not the central issue.
"Yes, it is being used up, but it is like a running tap, some sites are running away as they are being developed upon, but others are still coming on stream for development."
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if the UK can, in the words of deputy prime minister John Prescott, turn "brownfield sites into living, breathing communities where people are proud to belong".
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