Decentralisation minister Grant Shapps says the Government's decision to reclassify domestic gardens as greenfield sites was justified by the latest Land Use Change Statistics which show a shift in brownfield work from vacant and derelict land to residential conversion.
He said it was right to take action on so-called "garden grabbing" because a quarter of new homes are being built on the sites of old ones, compared to 10% in 1997, before PPG3 was introduced.
He said the move would dramatically transform councils' ability to prevent unwanted development.
"The statistics show the Government was right to take immediate action to prevent unwanted garden grabbing by changing the planning rules," said Mr Shapps.
The latest figures certainly show a shift in brownfield house building from vacant and derelict land to former residential sites, a move due in part to the former Government's housing market renewal pathfinder demolition programme.
But Mr Shapps made no mention of any measures to promote land reclamation or to improve the brownfield percentage which had already flat-lined before the new Government abolished residential density standards.
He also omitted to mention that the change of classification of gardens from greenfield to brownfield was made by a former Conservative government in 1992, that few councils found it a problem and that adequate planning powers existed to deal with it when it was.
