The Government will announce new measures to stop the practice of "garden grabbing" which has seen swathes of urban green space swallowed up by new housing developments.

Decentralisation minister Greg Clark is giving local councils immediate powers to prevent the building of new homes in back gardens, which has been on the rise in recent years.

According to the Communities and Local Government Department, the number of houses being built on gardens rose from one in 10 to a quarter of new properties between 1997 and 2008.

The problem is particularly acute in places including Guildford, Croydon, Southampton and the New Forest in the South East, Poole and Dorset in the South West, Sheffield and Solihull in the Midlands, Leeds and Wakefield in Yorkshire, South Tyneside in the North East and Norwich in Norfolk. Town halls have struggled to stop the trend as gardens have been classified as "previously residential land", making them brownfield sites in the same category as derelict factories and old railway sidings.

Mr Clark said he would be changing the designation of gardens from brownfield land to make it easier for local authorities to stop unwanted development, allowing them to reject planning applications for new houses and blocks of flats that local people oppose and which would ruin the character of the area. The step, which he said would not affect people who wanted to build extensions on their homes, was welcomed by garden and wildlife organisations.

Source: Press Association