Coalition to stop garden grabbing

18:02 9th June 2010

The new coalition government hopes to cut out the practice of garden grabbing, where developers build on green land classed as brownfield sites.

BBC News reported that builders are keen to construct new houses on such open spaces as it is cheaper than having to prepare former industrial or railway land.

However, the government is concerned that the practice could lead to increases in population density and a lack of green space in built-up areas.

While just one in ten homes were built on formerly residential land, such as gardens, in 1997, that figure jumped to one in four in 2008.

Former deputy prime minister John Prescott told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the Labour government had acted in the best interests of the people by allowing new houses to be built.

He said the new plans could jeopardise the chances of many families gaining access to affordable accommodation.

In other news, the Royal Horticultural Society recently published a garden and greenhouse to-do list for the month of June.