Car crash decision to reject nutrient neutrality amendments heightens UK’s housing crisis

Just when it seemed that common sense was finally prevailing, the protracted saga around nutrient neutrality is set to rumble on into 2024.

This week’s decision by the House of Lords to vote against the Government’s proposed amendments to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill is an absolute car crash moment in UK housing and politics, and the after effects ripple will be felt through an ever growing housing crisis, spurring growing ramifications in social, welfare and health impacts on the NHS, and beyond. It really is a national disgrace.

Myself and fellow members of the housebuilding industry were buoyed when the Government recently proposed the amendment to remove nutrient neutrality requirements for new housing developments, a legislation which is totally unnecessary especially as it is preventing the construction of 100,000 much-needed homes.

But, as I said at the time to colleagues, I currently receive all Governmental news with extreme scepticism and caution because of how vulnerable policies and motions are to party political point scoring which has been seen time and time again – and there seems to be a flagrant disregard, and dislike, for housebuilding for inexplicable reasons.

Lo and behold, yesterday saw the House of Lords reject the proposal to remove the nutrient neutrality requirements which were brought in four years ago to prevent new housing developments from increasing the amount of nitrogen or phosphorus in rivers.

As evidence that this was driven by party political point scoring, the vote outcome was effectively Conservatives voting for, and every other party being against (bar a few rebels). 

These are life peers who are allegedly voting in the national interest of ordinary people. Sadly their agenda is at the behest of that interest and ignorantly at the expense of the ambitious and the welfare of millions of people. 

Further, I noted two life peers in Baroness Hayman of Ullock and Lord Campbell-Savours, both long standing former Members of Parliament in Cumberland, on the list of opposition – sadly they seem to quickly forget their reason for privilege and any respect for the local human impact of this amendment.

We are a nation with one million people on housing waiting lists. We have the worst housing stock in Europe. The effects of such derisory living standards are there to be seen in ever growing health and welfare statistics. This should never be about party politics.

I know I’ve been vocal on this issue in the past but it’s completely absurd and unreasonable to penalise housing developers so heavily by blocking them from building vital new homes when the contribution of the industry to river pollution is negligible. The housebuilding industry continues to feel the burden of punishment for the failings of others – with the majority of pollution caused by ever-quiet agriculture and farming industry (70%) and water companies (25%). The same water companies that housebuilders have contributed over £1bn to maintain their infrastructure in the last three years alone.

In Cumbria – the rivers Kent, Eden, Derwent and Bassenthwaite are on the protected list – 2,500 new homes which are awaiting final planning permission are on hold, so this is having a clear, detrimental effect on local house builders and housing supply.

The impact on housebuilders and the wider supply chain is now acute. Thousands of jobs have been lost and significantly more are now at risk. An industry with an already vulnerable talent pool could be lost to it for years to come.

After four years of this farce, it is time that a cross party consensus is found and that a solution is expedited to conclusion so that this sorry saga does not continue indefinitely. It currently does not reflect well on any politician of any of the parties, nor some of the so called ‘experts’ in the field who continue to speak with an emotive voice rather than their competency.