Powers for councils to stop 'garden grabbing'

Local Government Minister Greg Clark will reveal changes to the planning laws that classified gardens as "previously residential land" in the same brownfield category as derelict factories and disused railway sidings.

The loophole allowed developers to scour maps for spare land and approach householders to get them to sell their property, infuriating some of the region's planning departments.

Leeds City Council have claimed such developments tend to be "poorly designed with a lack of respect for their surroundings and to the character of the area" while Calderdale Council also voiced serious concerns, claiming there was increasing feeling among residents that the "character of many pleasant suburban areas" was being threatened.

Mr Clark will today unveil his plans to halt the practice by taking gardens out of the brownfield category. He said: "For years the wishes of local people have been ignored as the character of neighbourhoods and gardens have been destroyed, robbing communities of vital green space.

"It is ridiculous that gardens have until now been classified in the same group as derelict factories and disused railway sidings, forcing councils and communities to sit by and watch their neighbourhoods get swallowed up in a concrete jungle."