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, legacy EU 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, but the contribution made by new homes is very small. These laws which originate from Brussels put a block on new homes in certain areas - taking away control over what is built, and when, from local people.
Through an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, the Government will do away with this red tape and allow for the delivery of more than 100,000 new homes desperately needed by local communities. Thanks to the government’s action, it is expected that developers could begin construction on these homes in a matter of months.
The move comes alongside new environmental measures that will tackle pollution at source and restore habitats. This includes significantly expanding investment in and evolving the Nutrient Mitigation Scheme run by Natural England, doubling investment to £280m to ensure it is sufficient to offset the very small amount of additional nutrient discharge attributable to up to 100,000 homes between now and 2030. Natural England will work with local authorities, the private sector and others to tackle nutrient pollution and work towards the long term health and resilience of the river systems. The Government intends to work with the house building industry to ensure that larger developers make an appropriate and fair contribution to this scheme over the coming years, and is discussing the right structure and approach with the Home Builders Federation.
The Government will then accelerate work on full site restoration through further work on new Protected Site Strategies, which Natural England will draw up in partnership with local communities to set protected sites on the path to recovery in the most affected catchments with the highest housing demand.
Steve Brine MP said; “The issue of nutrients is a long-running issue raised with me by businesses, constituents and the current City Council leadership; all desperate for a solution to unblock a raft of local small scale housing developments. I’ve been channelling this sentiment back to Ministers so through an amendment to the Levelling Up Bill we’ve found a solution but one that comes alongside new environmental measures that will tackle pollution at source and restore habitats.
“The plan is to significantly expand investment, to £280m, in the Nutrient Mitigation Scheme run by Natural England to ensure it is sufficient to offset the very small amount of additional nutrient discharge attributable to some 100,000 new homes in England between now and 2030.
“If it were easy it would have been solved long ago. It will be interesting to see if those who flagged this as a problem to their MP want to compromise and back the plan or take the easy route and play politics with it.”
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.”
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Thérèse Coffey said:
“These new plans will cut nutrients and help support England’s precious habitats whilst unlocking the new homes that local communities need.
“We are going to tackle the key causes of nutrients at source with over £200 million of funding to reduce run off from agriculture and plans to upgrade waste water treatment works through conventional upgrades, catchment approaches and nature-based solutions. This builds on the key commitments made in our five-year strategy – our Environmental Improvement Plan – as well as our Plan for Water which brings forward more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement to protect our rivers.”
