All UK councils will get advice on how they can use planning powers to stop development on garden land, government department Communities and Local Government has announced.

Today, CLG published research on the issue of developers buying garden land for development that showed just 5% of UK councils of the 127 that responded to its consultation had specific policies to guard against problems. The report said councils with plans in place were more successful at stopping unwanted development.

CLG said it would write to all planning authorities outlining how councils can identify and deal with garden grabbing through local plans.

Kingston University carried out the research and found that a minority of councils had faced a problem from this, and that it was London, the southeast and West Midlands that were most at threat.

John Healey, housing and planning minister, said councils already had the tools to deal with this issue.

“If those areas that have reported a problem don’t want to see developments on garden land, they are tying their own hands by not having a local plan in place. This evidence shows that planning inspectors will support local authorities in rejecting inappropriate buildings in gardens if there is a clear idea of what the area needs,” said Healey.

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