In a report by property consultants Daniel Watney, England has the potential to have enough brownfield sites ( sites that have become derelict and can be re-developed) to have the capacity to build 1 million new homes over the 25,000 acres they suggested. This is on the assumption that all councils would subscribe instead of the 45 that were surveyed. It is urging councils to make these commercial and industrial sites cheaper for builders to buy and re-develop and apportion a quarter for public ownership. This study has also received the backing with separate research conducted by the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

Chancellor Gorge Osborne claims in July that 200,000 new homes could be built by 2020 by coercing councils into speeding up developments on brownfield sites to ease the housing strain in the market and fulfilling quotas. He also announced 20 new individual housing zones within London that would provide approximately 50,000 houses on brownfield land – a much better option than digging up fresh land.

The cost, however remains a thorny issue as the necessary infrastructures such as power, schools, roads and healthcare all need to be factored in. Insurers and planners would look into these developments carefully as there would need to be a responsible approach to managing any risks involved, particularly with flooding and unoccupancy. Cheap empty home insurance or the cheapest unoccupied property insurance would not be an option if there were reckless building projects and the knock on cost of purchase or renting is a crucial element of the success of brownfield schemes such as these.