MP blocks 'landbanking' threat to green belt

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 4th Nov 2005

Lib Dem MP Greg Mulholland, Leeds North West, today pledged to try to put an end to a property speculation scam that threatens Britain's greenbelt.

Greenbelt land is being bought up by so-called 'land bankers' who draw up plans for housing estates on these protected sites and sell them on at grossly inflated prices.

Sites in Mulholland's constituency are being sold for £18,000 - but are only worth £115.

The detailed development plans are drawn up, despite there being no planning permission and are likely to lead speculators into believing that a housing development will get the go ahead in the foreseeable future.

The new landowners then put pressure on the council to allow house building on these 'farmyard' plots, making it harder to protect these important sites.

Commenting, Greg Mulholland MP said:

"Unwitting investors, looking for a safe home for their money, can be duped into paying over the odds for land that needs to be protected, not built on.

"Then, when they've got tens of thousands of pounds tied up, they realise there's no plan for homes.

"Their only chance to get their money back is to get permission for development - and councils could then put under undue and unethical pressure to review the status of the land.

"The greenbelts that protect our cities from urban sprawl are already under enormous pressure. Land banking" could cost us some of our most precious green fields.

"Buyers need to be warned about this unscrupulous behaviour as it could cost them dear."