Fairway or driveway? The furious debate over building houses on golf courses.

Harriet Whitehead   BBC23 April 2026
The UK hosts around a quarter of Europe’s golf courses at a time when the government is pushing hard to increase housing supply - aiming for 1.5 million new homes in England over five years.

In England alone, golf courses occupy an estimated 270 000 hectares, roughly the same amount used for domestic buildings.