Releasing Green Belt Land for Housing

What really bugs me about this is that the ordinary citizen who wishes to build a modest individual home of tasteful design on a quarter of an acre plot in a quiet, non-estate location has to fight tooth and nail for permission. Yet, completely spoiling acres of beautiful countryside by cramming in as many ugly cloned homes as possible seems to happen frequently.

Does it make sense? You can't build a single house in a field as it will spoil the natural beauty of the area but you can pile tons of bricks, tiles, concrete and tarmac in a field with inadequate infrastructure for the influx of families and an average of an additional vehicle per bedroom.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that affordable housing is necessary. My point is that the individual who wants to undertake a self-build home can rarely find a decent plot with permission.

It would be great if the Letchworth principle of individual homes was applied to a portion of the acreage released for mass new building. Seeing rows of regimented housing is quite depressing.