Green belt housing development will only happen after exhausting building on urban sites, a regional mayoral candidate has pledged.

Conservative Andy Street wants to avoid a repeat of the controversial decision to release green belt land for 6,000 homes at Sutton Coldfield and is promising to adopt a 'brownfield first' policy if elected in May.

The West Midlands needs 165,000 homes over the next 15 years to keep pace with demand but developers favour green belt land as it is often less expensive to build on and the houses fetch higher prices.

Brownfield sites often require decontamination or old buildings and foundations need clearing first.

It is estimated Birmingham has space for an extra 43,000 homes within its existing urban area, including old factory sites or where out-of-date housing has been demolished, and Mr Street wants to see this used first.

He said: "The Sutton Coldfield situation is one we have to ensure never happens again.

"How can it be right that green belt is used for housing at a time when right across the region there are huge pieces of brownfield land that have laid untouched for decades?

"There are at least 1,600 hectares of brownfield sites in the West Midlands which is about the size of 2,000 football pitches.

"This is why, as mayor, I will commit to a 'brownfield first' policy. I pledge to make this a reality in the first case by using the WMCA's £200 million to get brownfield land ready for housebuilding and commercial use.

"We can't say that greenbelt can be protected permanently. But, before we even think about using it for housing, we need to exhaust every other avenue.

"And there are plenty of other avenues. First, we need to get these brownfield sites back into use and quickly.

"This can be done by securing the funding necessary to reclaim lands that may be contaminated."

He added that he wanted to make use of the 10,000 homes in the region which were currently empty and look at developing better high-density housing in towns and cities.

Further proposals could include converting disused offices into flats.

He added: "Yes, the housing challenge in our region is an important one.

"But people value our green belt and it's an important part of our quality of life.

"That's why I am committing here and now to doing everything we can to protect it, an outcome which will only be possible through a co-ordinated approach across the region."

He is one of five candidates so far bidding to become the first West Midlands Mayor on May 4.

One of his rivals, UKIP's Pete Durnell, has also proposed using more commercial properties for housing while Lib Dem Beverley Nielsen wants a regionwide review of housing policy to ensure it is joined up across council borders.

The decision to release the Langley and Peddimore green belt sites at Sutton Coldfield followed three years of discussion, debate and a full public inquiry on the proposed Birmingham Development Plan.

The Labour-run city council insisted it had no option but to release some green belt land to meet its housing target of 80,000 new homes by 2031.

The Government finally endorsed the plan in November, despite vehement protests and stinging criticism from Sutton Coldfield's Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell.

Moves to attract a major manufacturer to the large site at Peddimore began last week.