Green belt land 'not sacrosanct'

Ruth Reed, the president elect of the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba), has said the UK's designated green belt land is "not completely sacrosanct".

Speaking to the NBS Learning Channel, Ms Reed - who beat Andrew Hanson to be the new Riba president - claimed there are not enough brownfield sites in the UK to allow the government to meet its target of building three million new homes by 2020.

She commented: "We are in an interesting position here in England.

"Only ten per cent of our land is urbanised; we have got to think very carefully how we release more land for development."

Riba is the UK body for architecture and architectural profession. It provides support for 40,500 members all over the world.

The organisation hosts exhibitions, archives, talks and share study facilities at the Victoria and Albert Museum.