Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, who has called for new homes to be built in the green belt, has himself tried to fight off such developments in his own constituency.
Javid twice wrote to the Planning Inspectorate objecting to plans to allocate green-belt land for housing in his Bromsgrove constituency in Worcestershire.
The revelations follow a speech he made last month calling on local authorities to consider releasing green-belt land for housing.
Next month he will formalise that idea in a housing white paper proposing thousands of new homes be built on green-belt land through the use of “swaps”.
These would allow councils to remove protections on one part of the green belt in return for creating a new area of protected land elsewhere.
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In Bromsgrove, however, Javid has taken a different approach. In a letter written in May 2015, when he was business secretary, he called on planning inspectors to reject a scheme to release green-belt land in Bromsgrove for housing because of “the effects on air quality, environment, infrastructure and facilities for residents”.
In a second letter in March he said the plan for 2,800 homes on Bromsgrove’s green belt would overwhelm local infrastructure.
Javid was put in charge of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) by Theresa May in July and in one of his first Commons statements declared England’s 4m acres of green-belt land, covering 13% of the country, to be “absolutely sacrosanct”.
Since then, however, his rhetoric has changed. In one recent speech, referring to green-belt developments, he said: “Where local councils come forward with sensible, robust local plans — and are willing to take tough decisions — I will back them all the way.”
Javid’s apparent conversion reflects the sheer scale of England’s housing crisis.
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England’s population is projected to rise from 53m in 2014 to 62m by 2039 — a 9m increase.
London’s population alone will grow from 9m to 13m, while across England the number of households is projected to rise from 23m to 28m. It means 5m new homes — many on greenfield sites.
Since many local authorities are reluctant to approve greenfield planning applications, Javid’s department has forced them to comply by making them draw up plans allocating land for new homes.
If they fail to do this then developers can put in planning applications on any land they like and usually win them on appeal.
This has led to a wave of speculative developments in the 40% of areas where councils have failed to complete a plan. It also means local authorities such as Bromsgrove and Redditch are rushing to implement plans — even if it means allocating green-belt land for housing.
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This is the process that Javid was objecting to — but which the department he now runs oversees.
The DCLG said: “Local authorities may only alter green-belt boundaries in exceptional circumstances. It is for elected local councils to decide where new homes should and shouldn’t go.
“Our white paper next month will set out how we plan to build the homes this country needs.”