Advertisement

Green quango accused of compounding housing crisis

housebuilding
housebuilding

A green quango is halting £15bn of investment and blocking 250,000 jobs after house building in parts of the country came to a stop over “nutrient neutrality” rules, ministers have been warned.

In a letter to Environment Secretary George Eustice, housebuilders warned the decision, which affects 74 local authorities, would have an “unprecedented impact” on property developments.

Natural England, a quango responsible for protecting the natural environment, issued guidance warning councils that building cannot go ahead unless they can demonstrate they do not pollute water systems. It brought housebuilding in some areas to a complete standstill, dealing a major blow to the Government’s target to build 300,000 homes.

The Nitrates and Phosphates Strategy Group (NPSG) of affected housebuilders estimates that the building of 114,000 homes has been blocked by the decision, including 40,000 affordable homes.

In the letter seen by the Telegraph, the group said: “This is a business-critical issue for us – significant redundancies have been necessary already – and it is compounding the UK’s housing crisis by hampering the ability of local authorities to meet housing demands.”

It added: “250,000 new jobs have been blocked across the sector, creating a £15bn investment shortfall in the UK construction industry.

“The repercussions of Natural England’s guidance are not restricted to the construction industry as local authorities are also missing over £2.5bn in planning contributions and a further £206m in Council Tax receipts per annum.”

The group, which includes Cherwyn Developments, Hawkstone Properties and Stonewater, has proposed a £2,000 levy on the homes affected to raise funding for mitigation measures to satisfy Natural England.

Chris Winter, chairman of the NPSG, said: “Natural England’s current nutrient neutrality guidance is having an unprecedented impact on the UK’s construction industry and is compounding the effects of the housing crisis.”

A spokesman for Defra said the department has received the letter and will respond in due course.

Industry sources said Housing Secretary Michael Gove appeared to have been blindsided by the nutrient neutrality ruling. Natural England itself admitted the guidance will have a “significant negative impact” on government house building targets as the quango came under attack from Tories.

There are also fears that construction in some areas could be impacted by water neutrality rules after Natural England hit Sussex with development restrictions to protect wildlife, including a rare species of snail.