Government housing targets are “forcing councils” in Surrey to allocate green belt land for development, according to the Liberal Democrat leader.

Sir Ed Davey, who is the MP for Kingston and Surbiton, which shares a border with Surrey, said the targets were “eye-watering”.

He also described them as being “out of date”.

A government spokesperson said: “Protecting the cherished countryside and green spaces is our priority.”

In Mole Valley, the district council has submitted a plan to build 6,000 homes by 2037, according to the BBC’s Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In order to meet that target, and because housing land was “severely constrained by green belt, the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Area of Great Landscape Value,” the authority amended green belt boundaries.

Sir Ed said he didn’t think targets like Mole Valley’s were justified, adding: “I think they’re out of date post-Covid because a lot more office space is going to be empty in our cities, that can be used for affordable housing rather than building on green belt.”

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “Protecting the cherished countryside and green spaces is our priority – the £1.5bn brownfield fund will support councils to make use of previously developed land as much as possible.

“We remain clear that new building in the green belt should be avoided unless there are exceptional circumstances.”

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