The House of Lords voted down the Government’s planned nutrient neutrality reform, after a strong response from environmental groups criticised the plans
The Government plan to boost housebuilding via relaxed nutrient neutrality laws has failed, as the House of Lords voted down the amendment to the Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill.
As the amendment was introduced at a late stage in the legislative process, the proposed nutrient neutrality reform cannot go back to the House of Commons for consideration and must be presented again in a new bill- effectively starting from scratch.
The plans were originally announced with a wealth of funding attached
Housing secretary Michael Gove and environment secretary Thérèse Coffey debuted the plans in late August, saying that “these changes will provide a multibillion-pound boost for the UK economy and see us build more than 100,000 new homes.”
Developers have criticised the nutrient neutrality laws for causing housebuilding delays with excessive product costs and approval delays.
The Lords voted down the nutrient neutrality reform 203 to 156
The subject has been strongly divisive not only between developers and environmental groups, but between the government and the opposition.
Shadow spokesperson for levelling up, housing, communities and local government in the House of Lords Baroness Hayman, told the chamber: “It is abundantly clear that there are far better ways to build the new homes we need than at the expense of our precious environment… polluting our rivers is not a price we need to pay for sufficient housing supply.”
Shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds had previously criticised the issue as “an entirely bogus dilemma”. Speaking to Radio 4, his reponse was blunt: “Don’t pretend it’s a choice between looking after our environment and building more houses, because it isn’t.”
Meanwhile Michael Gove said that Labour was depriving “the dream of homeownership for thousands of families”, through mobilising their peers to reject the nutrient neutrality reforms.
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