Nature is not an obstacle to housing growth, according to parliamentarians

Nature is not an obstacle to housing growth and the government risks missing both its housing and nature targets if it considers it so, a cross-party group of MPs have warned in a new report.

The planning and infrastructure bill overrides existing habitat protections, which the government has suggested is a barrier to its target of building 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament.

But in a report published on Sunday, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) concluded that the measures outlined in the bill are not sufficient to allow the government to meet its objectives.

“Scapegoating nature means the government will be less effective in addressing some of the genuine challenges facing the planning system,” the report says.

A Housing Ministry spokesman said it was fixing a broken system with landmark reforms, which would be beneficial for the economy and the environment.

The Labor government has promised to build 1.5 million new homes in England by 2029 as part of efforts to solve the housing crisis and boost economic growth.

Under his housing reforms, he wants to simplify the planning system to speed up housing construction on smaller sites by overturning existing habitat and nature protections.

If passed, the bill, which is currently in its final stages in parliament, would allow developers to make general environmental improvements and contribute to a nature restoration fund that improves habitats on other sites.

But the EAC has argued that nature is not a “blocker” to housing delivery: it is a necessity for building resilient neighbourhoods.

The EAC urged the government to focus on addressing skills shortages in ecology, planning and construction.

“The government should not stray down the path of viewing nature as an inconvenience or obstacle to housing construction,” the report says.

“In most cases, housing delivery is delayed or hampered due to unclear and contradictory policies, land banks and skills shortages.”

The CAO suggested offering people better incentives to build and live in “carbon-friendly housing,” or retrofit existing ones.

It outlined a series of recommendations aimed at boosting the viability of manufacturing green building products and shifting the tax burden to support green housing.

Environmental group Friends of the Earth said the government needed to set the right priorities.

Paul De Zylva, nature campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “This report shows that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill is bad legislation that neither provides the quality homes people need nor truly protects our already depleted nature.

“Rather than attacking newts, bats and our natural laws to justify its growth-at-all-costs agenda, the government would be better off focusing on meeting its legal targets for nature, which are at risk of not being met.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “The Government inherited a failed system that delayed the construction of new homes and infrastructure while doing nothing to restore nature.

“We are fixing this with historic reforms, including the Nature Restoration Fund, that will deliver benefits for the economy and the environment.

“This will get Britain building the 1.5 million homes we desperately need to restore the dream of home ownership – and not at the expense of nature.”