On Monday, 4th March, the Sylvans debated the motion:
This House believes that much more housing needs to be built on Green Belt land.
It was proposed by Edmund West and opposed by Tony Koutsoumbos.
The proposer made an impassioned argument that the UK’s restrictive housing policies have led our major economy to have the smallest new-built house size in all of Europe. He outlined the ability to build a significant number of houses on a small proportion of the Green Belt, and argued that restrictions on building that drive up house prices are ‘theft’. The opposer provided a broad context of the so-called ‘housing crisis’ facing Britain, which he argued is exaggerated, and the significant practical challenges of building on Green Belt land. He advocated punitive taxes on second homes. The main speakers and a number of speakers from the floor railed against foreign investors snapping up British housing, leaving homes empty and driving up the price for local residents.
The final vote saw the motion carry by a narrow margin.