The Government is not on track to meet either its housing or environmental targets, according to peers from the Built Environment Committee.
Environmental laws have led to effective bans on house building in many areas across the country, Parliament heard
They argued that the nutrient neutrality requirements hinder plans to build homes, while the main polluters are actually intensive farming practices and water companies dumping sewage. The independent crossbench peer added that these rules were imposed “like a bolt from the blue” and “stopped housing development in many areas, even though this only adds a tiny fraction to the pollution of our rivers”.
He also noted that a requirement for biodiversity net gain puts pressure on small and medium-sized house builders, for whom incorporating this is “extraordinarily difficult”. He said: “A brownfield site, if left derelict, actually becomes biodiverse quite quickly – the weeds come, the birds and the bees, the rodents arrive and so on.
In all he said, neither the Government’s house-building nor environmental targets are likely to be met and are actually “working in antagonism with each other.” She admitted that nutrient neutrality has “created a situation where some local authorities are not able to approve development”.
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