Any idea what garden grabbing is? It’s a phenomenon brought on by the last Labour Government and it’s one that’s got a lot of people shouting ‘not in my back yard’. Garden grabbing as it’s been nicknamed is the purchasing of urban garden space by developers for the use of new housing plots. Back in 1997, 1 in ten gardens were grabbed by developers, now that figure sits at 1 in 4.
The whole situation came about in 2000 when the then Home Secretary, John Prescott, encouraged the use of brownfield sites for new housing developments. For the last 20 years garden space has been classified as ‘brownfield sites’ which is the same classification as old railway lines and disused factories. But now, the new Conservative Government is pledging to revert garden space back to a ‘greenfield’ designation, meaning urban home owners can breathe a sigh of relief, unless they needed the money from a land sale.