greenbelt

[dannyday5821]

out of curiosity - (in the UK) who owns greenbelt land? the council? the government?

could you buy greenbelt? if so, what would you be allowed to do with it? is it actually illegal to build on? or just a preference of the goverment to make sure private companies dont go mad building houses everywhere! :P

[buildersmate]

Absolutely anybody can own greenbelt land - farmers, householders whose house is on greenbelt land, companies, the NT, the MOD and so on. Very little land is actually owned by government departments (apart from the MOD). You could buy a piece of land in the greenbelt - and you would be free to use it for what it is currently classified for, no problem.
Greenbelt is generalised term for planning policy classification. It ensures that land which is regarded as sacrosanct from change in its current usage has a policy applied to it locally that discourages a change in its use.
In rare situations planning applications are approved for development of 'greenbelt'.