Concerns over water pollution are holding up the construction of as many as 40,000 new homes.
Developers have been barred from moving ahead on thousands of building sites in England because of fears that construction will add to the level of nitrates and phosphates in waterways.
“Somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 homes are delayed in one way or another,” said David O’Leary, policy director at the Home Builders Federation. A further 20,000 homes are also likely to be affected and the issue could yet become more widespread, he said.
There are delays of 12-24 months on some sites because developers are trying to source extra land adjacent to absorb nutrient run-off, according to James Thomson, chief executive of Gleeson Homes.
The alternative, he said, was to cut the number of homes built on a site by as much as 50%.
