Labour will try to block government plans to water down nutrient neutrality rules.
The party is preparing to join Conservative rebels in the House of Lords to kill off an attempt by ministers to disapply the water pollution regulations.
The government has said the rules have held up the development of 100,000 homes.
The move by Labour significantly increases the prospect of the government being defeated when peers vote on a government amendment to the Levelling Up Bill to disapply the rules.
The government believes the change is necessary because, without it, up to 100,000 homes in nutrient neutrality catchment areas would not be built by 2030, exacerbating the housing crisis.
In an article for The Times (£) new shadow levelling up secretary Angela Rayner said: “There are far better ways to build the new homes we desperately need than green-lighting water pollution.”
It wants the homes to be built, on the condition that measures to counter environmental harm are in place before the homes are occupied.
Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation, said that if Labour’s attempt was successful the “impasse” would go on.
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