Government announces plan that it claims “will unblock housebuilding to deliver homes for local communities while protecting the environment.
Over 100,000 homes held up due to defective EU laws will be unblocked between now and 2030, delivering an estimated £18 billion boost to the economy, the government has announced today. “
Currently, laws on nutrient neutrality are blocking the delivery of new homes, including cases where planning permission has already been granted.
Nutrients entering our rivers are a real problem government has admitted, but the contribution made by new homes to the wider issue of nutrients in our rivers is very small.
The rules around Nutrient Neutrality that Natural England an arms length government body expanded coverage of just last year to include most of Cumbria including all of the former Eden council area.
Natural England had previously advised 32 local planning authority that, where protected sites are in unfavourable condition due to excess nutrients, development should only go ahead if it will not cause additional pollution to sites. In March 2022, Natural England advised a further 42 Local Planning Authorities that their areas are covered by this advice.
The advice from Natural England meant that new residential development must achieve ‘nutrient neutrality’.
Development achieves nutrient neutrality when the nutrient load created through additional wastewater including surface water from the development is mitigated. By designing development alongside suitable mitigation measures, additional nutrient loads can often be avoided or mitigated.
Through an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, the Government has said it will do away with this red tape and allow for the delivery of more than 100,000 new homes it claims are ‘desperately needed by local communities’. The government action is expected to result in construction on new developments starting in a matter of months.
Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove MP said:
“We are committed to building the homes this country needs and to enhancing our environment. The way EU rules have been applied has held us back. These changes will provide a multi-billion pound boost for the UK economy and see us build more than 100,000 new homes.
“Protecting the environment is paramount which is why the measures we’re announcing today will allow us to go further to protect and restore our precious waterways whilst still building the much-needed homes this country needs.
“We will work closely with environmental agencies and councils as we deliver these changes.”
Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen, Chairman of the District Councils’ Network said:
“Today’s action to tackle the unintended impact of nutrient neutrality rules on local housebuilding is excellent news for district councils. It will unblock tens of thousands of much needed new and affordable homes for more than forty of our member councils. It is good for local residents and good for local jobs. The District Councils’ Network has been calling for the Government to act to take the burden of cleaning up our rivers away from councils. We are pleased that it has listened and found a solution that includes substantial new funding to address the underlying pollution problem. We call on parliament to pass the legislation that will make this a reality.”
Colin Wood, CEO, Story Homes
‘Story Homes welcome today’s government announcement which is monumental for housebuilding impacted by nutrient neutrality. The plan unlocks over 4000 homes for our business creating a huge boost for the local economies and supply chains, all whilst facilitating delivery of much needed housing. Hundreds of jobs in the wider supply chain will be safeguarded as a result. The approach from the government achieves all this whilst delivering significant environmental measures to tackle the nutrient issue at source.’
David Thomas, CEO Barratt Developments
“As the leading national sustainable housebuilder, we welcome the government’s commitment to tackle the disproportionate rules preventing much-needed and efficient new homes from being built including 2,500 Barratt currently has stalled. Alongside plans to mitigate the relatively limited impact of new build housing, we welcome the further commitment to tackling nutrient pollution at source in agriculture and industry and the much needed planned improvements in our water infrastructure.”
Plans for around 800 houses across multiple developments in Penrith and the local area around the town are on hold by developers or are currently stuck in the planning process at Westmorland and Furness Council awaiting planning decisions the council having failed to determine the applications with some having remained in limbo for over 12 months some even longer.
Storey Homes have submitted a planning application to Eden Council in April 2022 for 194 new homes on the site located on Inglewood Road in Penrith. The application is still awaiting planning decisions by the local authority.
Barratt Homes Manchester submitted an application in 2019 to the former Eden Council for a 105 dwellings development in Carleton.
This application by Barratt is also still awaiting a decision by the local planner authority that has been Westmorland and Furness Council since the 1st April 2023.
The claims by government of the need to unlock development of 100,000 new homes comes just a week after Persimmon, one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, has cut almost 300 jobs due to weak demand linked to the fallout from the government’s autumn mini-budget
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