Developers worried about the image of homes built on brownfield sites could take a leaf out of Birmingham’s book, said a leading planning expert.

The abundance of brownfield sites available for housing schemes was highlighted in a recent study by the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England which estimated there was enough of such land to build more than a million homes across the country.

But potential homebuyers often balk at the prospect of moving into a home built on what was once-derelict sites, and Richard Blyth, head of policy at the Royal Town Planning Institute, said the preferences of prospective buyers needed to be considered when deciding on land allocation.