Rishi Sunak has vowed to block housebuilding on green belt land, in a stark contrast to prime ministerial rival Liz Truss.
With just days until ballots drop in the leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, and behind Truss in the polls, Sunak said new property development should take place squarely on “brownfield, brownfield, brownfield”.
His pledge to the party’s grassroots was that a blanket rejection would be issued for councils that ask to change green belt boundaries in order to release land for housing.
Sunak’s campaign contrasted the announcement with rival Truss, who in May 2019 as chief secretary to the Treasury suggested 1m homes should be built on the London green belt and around other “growing cities”.
Sunak claimed more homes could be built while protecting “our most precious landscape” with space for 1m homes across brownfield sites – particularly in north-west England, the West Midlands and Yorkshire.
