Green Belt
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide the evidence base used to determine that 800m is the appropriate radius for station-based Green Belt release.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook
The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making.
The draft NPPF includes policies that would allow for suitable development (including housing and mixed-use) around railway stations offering high levels of connectivity, recognising these as relatively sustainable locations. It makes clear that such development should be limited to land physically well-related to the station and within reasonable walking distance of it.
Reasonable walking distance is not quantified in the consultation document itself but following the Oral Statement I made on 16 December 2025 I referenced 800 metres (approximately 10 minutes at moderate walking speed) as the government’s working assumption of how it might be defined.
The consultation seeks views on all aspects of the policy, including how reasonable walking distance should be defined. It is available on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.
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