Ealing Council is considering developing areas currently designated as 'grey belt' to meet increasing housing targets driven by the new London Plan.
The discussion took place during a Planning Advisory Committee meeting on Wednesday 26 November 2025, where members reviewed the implications of the new London Plan. Jennifer Peters, presented a report titled Towards a New London Plan, outlining that the Greater London Authority (GLA) is reviewing the Green Belt and that sites previously characterised under the Green Belt could be identified has having the potential to be considered as grey belt and thus have potential for development.
The intention of the Green Belt review is to develop a small percentage of land to help meet London's housing requirements. Local authorities will determine Green Belt boundaries through their local plans.
The meeting minutes from June 24th, 2025, also show that the committee discussed comparing the future Ealing Plan to both the current and future London Plans, especially on issues such as the future of the Green Belt.
Planning Advisory Committee draft Minutes - 24 June 2025
The Mayor of London has agreed to a government target of 880,000 new homes over 10 years, meaning the new London Plan will need to plan for a far higher number of homes than the current plan. This is expected to reflect onto higher housing targets for Ealing.
However, officers have expressed concerns about delivering these higher targets. According to the minutes, the current economic climate and some regulatory issues has meant a reduction applications. Moreover the council only have a role in assessing applications, built out is in the gift of developers.
One specific regulatory issue impacting development is uncertainty surrounding the requirements of the building safety levy, which has slowed development and led to the redesign of some applications.
Steve Barton, Strategic Planning Manager, clarified that Ealing has Green Belt land primarily to the west of the borough, while the remaining green spaces are designated as Metropolitan Open Land. He also noted that the West London Orbital route could significantly increase the borough's attractiveness for development, similar to the impact of the Elizabeth Line.
