The Green Belt exists to prevent urban sprawl. The National Planning Policy Framework is unambiguous: inappropriate development in the Green Belt should be refused unless there are very special circumstances. This is not a policy to be balanced — it is a strong presumption against development that puts the burden squarely on the applicant to justify the exception. Most development proposals in the Green Belt are refused at first application. Understanding why they succeed on appeal, and under what circumstances inspectors have accepted the very special circumstances argument, is the foundation of any viable Green Belt application.
The NPPF sets out what constitutes inappropriate development in the Green Belt. New buildings are inappropriate unless they fall within one of six exceptions: buildings for agriculture or forestry, facilities for outdoor sport and recreation and for cemeteries, the extension or alteration of existing buildings, replacement buildings, limited infilling in villages, and limited affordable housing for local community needs. A dwelling on a greenfield site in the Green Belt that does not fall within any of these exceptions is inappropriate development — full stop. The very special circumstances test is the only route to permission.
The courts have been clear that very special circumstances cannot be established by a number of individually ordinary circumstances that together amount to something special. The circumstances must be genuinely special — substantially above the run of the mill. What has been accepted as very special circumstances in planning appeal decisions includes significant personal hardship (severe medical need to live in proximity to a specific location), the removal of an existing harm to the Green Belt in exchange for a carefully designed new dwelling, reuse of a brownfield site within the Green Belt where the development would represent an enhancement, essential facilities for sports clubs with significant community value, and exceptional design quality where the building would make a positive contribution to the character of the area.
Family circumstances — wanting to be close to elderly relatives, school catchment areas, employment location — are not very special circumstances. The fact that the site is brownfield does not automatically justify development. An existing established business needing to expand does not in itself constitute very special circumstances. The benefits of the development to the local economy, assessed in isolation, are unlikely to outweigh the harm to the Green Belt. In practice, successful very special circumstances arguments tend to combine multiple factors and address the specific nature and location of the harm.
One of the permitted exceptions to Green Belt restrictions is the replacement of an existing dwelling. A new dwelling can replace an existing one in the Green Belt provided it is not materially larger than the one it replaces, it is in the same use, and any original dwelling is removed. This is a more straightforward route than the very special circumstances test — but it depends on the planning record confirming that the existing dwelling is lawful and has been in continuous lawful residential use. We regularly see cases where the original dwelling does not have clear planning permission or where the lawfulness of the residential use is in question.
Before any Green Belt application or appeal, the planning history for the site and the cluster of comparable decisions in the area is the critical foundation. The history tells you what the council has previously decided on the site, whether any existing structures have lawful use, what enforcement action has previously been considered, and — importantly — what comparable sites with similar characteristics have been approved or refused nearby. A successful comparable decision with a similar very special circumstances argument is powerful evidence in both an application and an appeal.
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