I recently attended a conference about the aptness of London Architects and wanted to share what I discerned from it with you in this blog post.

With local authorities exploring development scenarios for their areas, green belt architects can support clients in making the best case on their behalf to promote and nominate land for development. While this can be a long process, if successful it can significantly improve the likelihood of a successful planning application or wider masterplanning of an area. Designing new buildings, conversions and alterations that blend with their surroundings and exploit space and light is a fine art that green belt architects have perfected over many years. Listed Buildings also feature regularly in their portfolio, which boasts some wonderful properties protected for their historic, architectural or other value. Greenbelt policy and implementation can be threatened or diminished by changes in governing political parties and a lack of municipal cooperation. Many greenbelts are quite vulnerable to politics and growth pressured, in the absence of comprehensive and sustained policy protections. For new businesses and those seeking to relocate or extend into sites within the Green Belt and rural area, the preference is to re-use and convert redundant buildings. Sympathetic extensions and alterations and an element of new build in association with re-use and conversion may also be acceptable. One of the purposes of the Green Belt seeks to protect the setting of historic settlements by retaining the surrounding undeveloped land or the landscape context. Green Belt policy does not define what is meant by towns or whether the smaller historic places should equally be considered. Beyond using architecture for shelter, a building's design must serve those who use that space. Necessities include housing, grocery stores, gas stations, hospitals, banks, offices, and schools.



Some green belt architects run annual focus groups to ensure that their own and wider team members are implementing sustainable design. They design inclusively and holistically in order to create positive social impact through their developments. The Government sees the Green Belt as helping the process of regeneration. Its Strategic Guidance envisages changes to Green Belt boundaries only in exceptional circumstances when economic regeneration may be constrained by the lack of suitable industrial sites. The countryside has somehow become a target for those seeking a solution to the housing crisis. An adversarial situation has arisen where demands for growth become set against local community concerns for the environment, a situation in which nobody wins. We’re told that young people must accept a trade-off between housing and countryside: a strangely binary argument which would never be applied to other social goods like health. Green Planning architects usually only take on projects with a reasonable chance of success. Each case is individual and they will give an appraisal of the issues involved and your chances of success before commencing work. Innovative engineering systems related to Architect London are built on on strong relationships with local authorities.

Sensitivity, Experience And Expertise

A talented team of Architects, Landscape Architects and Chartered Town Planners working for green belt architects specialise in the creation and regeneration of sustainable residential communities in urban, suburban, and rural settings and this ensures a flexible and comprehensive approach can be given to each individual site. The Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment calls on the building and construction sector to take action to decarbonise the built environment, inspire others to take similar action, and to remove barriers to implementation. A central problem with Green Belt development is that opposition is local and focused. Consequently it is not surprising that such objections often find support from local politicians. Local residents who object to development in their locality represent real votes that can be counted. The counter arguments, from those in housing need, are general and unrelated to the local debate. Green belt architectural businesses look forward to maintaining a high standard of service to their clients and to creating new working relationships in the ever more challenging world faced by property developers and designers. When it comes to green belt, public attitudes, as well as attitudes of those of local and national governments, need to change if we are to make serious inroads into solving the housing crisis. This isn’t a question of wrecking England’s pastures green, but about sensible development of brownfield land to provide decent homes for all and ease the pressure on the country’s housing market. Clever design involving Green Belt Planning Loopholes is like negotiating a maze.

The general extent of Green Belts across the country is already established. The government states that new Green Belts should only be established in exceptional circumstances, for example when planning for larger scale development such as new settlements or major urban extensions. A green belt architect is a skilled professional who plans and designs buildings and generally plays a key role in their construction. Architects are highly trained in the art and science of building design. Since they bear responsibility for the safety of their buildings’ occupants, architects must be professionally licensed. Where there is a demand for affordable housing in a particular location, new homes can be allowed in the Green Belt to meet that need. However, this exception only applies where specific policies in the Local Plan that allow that to happen – and even then, only if the need for those homes is clearly demonstrated. As green belt architects, companies have a key role to play in minimising the impact of building construction, and operation, on the environment. They ensure that environmental sustainability is considered at the beginning of each project, with key performance targets defined and reviewed regularly throughout the design process. Local authorities are now starting to observe projects on a case-by-case basis, and how individual developments affect their surroundings by means of positive or negative contributions to the surrounding green belt context. A well-thought-out strategy appertaining to Net Zero Architect can offer leaps and bounds in improvements.

Adding Value

Councils are encouraged to prioritise development on brown field sites (land previously used for industrial use). However, many councils are altering the historic green belt boundaries in order to create more housing. And this is where the business investment opportunities appear for anyone looking to put their money into property. Green belt architects design new buildings and the spaces around them, and work on the restoration and conservation of existing buildings in green belt areas. There’s no sugar-coating the fact that London is in the middle of possibly its greatest housing crisis. The average price of a home in the capital in 2020 is over £600,000 – and over £1.5m in Kensington Chelsea – and social housing waiting-list figures show that there are almost 350,000 houses in demand. Some planning consultants and architectural designers have extensive experience of projects in the Green Belt and throughout the UK and can guide you through the planning process. Many of the policy papers that point to the dubious agricultural or ecological value of the Green Belt lack sufficient support from current research. While accepting that releasing planning restrictions on Green Belt would increase housing supply (and theoretically reduce land prices), it is a leap too far to suggest that there is a direct relationship between the existence of Green Belt land and the shortage of housing in England. A solid understanding of Green Belt Land makes any related process simple and hassle free.

A green belt architect works with you and the rest of your advisers as part of the team. They think carefully about what the other side might do and try to pre-empt their actions and avoid surprises. A delicate balance now needs to be made between a building’s form, function and interactions with its surrounding environment to be considered sustainable development. Biodiversity should be a consideration in all planning decisions not just those affecting designated sites. Development should firstly, avoid adversely affecting national and local designated nature conservation sites, priority habitats and species by using alternative sites or layout designs. Green Belt projects are a specialist area of architecture and planning. The challenges are hugely different from, for instance, designing for a tight urban plot in inner London. Therefore, in order to have a decent chance of succeeding you need a team who not only can design the exceptional buildings required, but can also understand the mindset of the planning authorities who oversee Green Belt land. For the purposes of planning, stable buildings very rarely fall under an agricultural use, however they do fall within the definition of previously developed land. This is can also be an important consideration when considering proposals within the Green Belt such as this one. Professional assistance in relation to New Forest National Park Planning can make or break a project.

Planning Regulations And Development Control

Permitted Development Rights still apply to Green Belt land (except if you live in National Parks, the Broads, an AONB, World Heritage Sites, or Conservation areas – good luck to you!) and are likely to be the best way to improve your home, provided you stay within their limits. As every project is different, the involvement of green belt architects may vary from conceptual design and the submission of applications for regulatory consents to tendering and supervision. There are various loopholes in planning terms that can be exploited in the green belt, but if the proposal doesn’t conform to the Green Belt exceptions the potential benefits of any development must clearly outweigh the ‘harm’ that such development would pose to ‘openness’ in terms of the planning balance. Housing need alone is usually not enough to overcome the perceived harm. You can find supplementary insights appertaining to London Architects on this Open Spaces Society web page.

Related Articles:

Extra Information With Regard To Net Zero Architects
Further Findings With Regard To Green Belt Architectural Designers
Further Information On Green Belt Architects
Further Insight With Regard To Green Belt Planning Loopholes
Additional Findings About Green Belt Consultants
Additional Insight About Net Zero Architects
Supplementary Insight With Regard To Green Belt Architectural Designers