Michael Gove is to repeal the nutrient neutrality laws, blamed for holding up the development of more than 120,000 homes.
The Department for Levelling Up said scrapping the “defective EU laws” would deliver an estimated £18bn boost to the economy by 2030.
The UK signed up to the rules in 2017, which prohibit new housing developments unless the housebuilders can either prevent or mitigate any pollution of rivers and waterways.
The nutrient neutrality regulations required Natural England to issue guidance to 62councils, stating that new development must be “nutrient-neutral” in their area. This has blocked or delayed housing development in Somerset, Norfolk, Teesside, Kent, Wiltshire and the Solent, including around a large number of homes that already had planning permission.
The government has now backed calls from the Home Builders Federation, stating that while “nutrients entering our rivers are a real problem”, “the contribution made by new homes is very small”.
The levelling up secretary 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.”
The laws will be repealed using yet another amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which is currently being scrutinised in the House of Lords. The bill is already being referred to as a “Christmas tree”, due to the number of legislative baubles that have been hung from it.
Ministers said the repeal of the laws would come alongside a doubling of the Nutrient Mitigation Scheme run by Natural England 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”.
The government said it intends to work with the housebuilding industry to ensure that larger developers make “an appropriate and fair contribution” to the scheme, and is discussing the structure and approach with the HBF.
Gove said: “Protecting the environment is paramount, which is why the measures we are 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.”
The department added that the changes, along with the wider planning reforms in the bill, “will allow the government to go even further towards its target of delivering one million homes this parliament”.
Stewart Baseley, executive chair of the HBF, welcomed the decision, saying it had “the potential to unlock housing delivery across the country, from Cornwall to the Tees Valley, where housebuilding has been blocked despite wide acknowledgement that occupants of new homes are responsible for only a tiny fraction of the wastewater finding its ways into rivers and streams”.
Speaking about the planned levy on housebuilders he said: “The industry is eager to play its part in delivering mitigation and protecting our waterways. We look forward to engaging with government on the right way to do so, now that ministers are acting upon the arguments that builders both large and small have been making for so long.”
Barratt Developments chief executive David Thomas also welcomed “the government’s commitment to tackle the disproportionate rules preventing much-needed and efficient new homes from being built”.
He added that around 2,500 of Barratt’s own homes were currently stalled.
Taylor Wimpey chief executive Jennie Daly said the government was “taking steps to reduce barriers to development”.
Colin Wood, chief executive at Story Homes, said more than 4,000 of its planned homes had been held up by the rules.
But Grayham Tucker, group managing director at Cavanna Homes, pointed out that the changes needed to get onto the statute book first. “Now we need this welcome change to become law as fast as possible so that we can get building.”
Sam Chapman-Allen, chair of the District Councils’ Network, echoed the sentiment. “We call on parliament to pass the legislation that will make this a reality,” he 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.”
Matthew Lesh, director of public policy at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said the move was “a crucial step towards addressing the housing crisis”.
“These rules held back tens of thousands of homes for little environmental benefit,” he said, adding that “the key culprit” was intensive farming.
More needed to be done, he said. “These rules mean one fewer reason that local councils must reject housebuilding. But there are countless fiddly rules and processes holding back much-needed homes and infrastructure. A government serious about economic growth must go much further and much faster to unshackle the British people.”
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