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Written question asked by Greg Smith (Conservative) on Wednesday, 22 November 2023, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 27 November 2023. It was answered by Lee Rowley (Conservative) on Friday, 1 December 2023 on behalf of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Agriculture: Land Use

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the acreage of farm land used for (a) housing development, (b) commercial development, (c) solar panels and (d) battery storage in each of the last five years.

Answer

Figures for 2019 onwards are derived using a revised methodology and are expressed as three-year totals. They are not directly comparable with figures for earlier years. Accordingly, the available information for the last three years for which figures are available for (a) and (b) is set out in the table below. Separate figures for (c) and (d) are not available.

Amount of land changing use (acres) (a)

Period (b)

Change of use:

Agriculture to residential

Agriculture to Industry and commerce

2019 to 2022 (c)

9,854

3,168

Source: DLUHC Land use change - hectarage statistics, (part of) Live Table P361 at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/land-use-change-hectarage-2019-to-2022

Notes:

(a) Figures are published in hectares and have been converted into acres for this table.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
3362
Session
2023-24
Transferred
Yes
Subjects
Agriculture Land use Property development Storage Solar power Batteries
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk