Planning and Infrastructure Bill: Labour warned its housing plan will fail nature and homes goals
The government risks missing both housing and nature targets under proposed reforms, a cross-party group of MPs has warned.
The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) found that the measures in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill currently before Parliament are inadequate to meet both objectives.
The EAC’s report, released on Sunday, argued that nature is not a “blocker” to housing but is essential to resilient neighbourhoods.
The committee also concluded that the government will miss its housebuilding target if skills shortages in ecology, planning and construction are not addressed.
The bill overrides existing habitat and nature reserves, which the government argues hinders its target of building 1.5 million homes and wider economic growth by the end of Parliament.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have previously argued that current rules of nature have gone too far, often citing the example of the £100 million bat tunnel to build the HS2 rail route.
If passed, the bill would allow developers to make general environmental improvements and pay into a nature restoration fund that improves habitat in other areas.
Toby Perkins, Chairman of the Environmental Audit Committee, said: “The Government’s target to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this Parliament is incredibly ambitious.
“Achieving this, alongside our existing legislated targets for climate and sustainability, will require effort on an unprecedented scale.
“This simply cannot be achieved by scapegoating nature as an ‘impediment’ to housing delivery.
“We are clear in our report: A healthy environment is essential to building resilient towns and cities. This should not be left aside.”
Mr Perkins said the problems coming our way included skills that were not available at the scale needed, with staff in local authorities and regulators already stretched to their limits.
He also argued ministers should offer better incentives for people to build and live in “carbon-friendly homes” or renovate existing homes.
“It is possible to build the homes we need while preserving a durable and healthy environment and allowing nature to thrive,” he said.
“Some big changes may be necessary, but nature is not the enemy.”
In the report, the committee outlines a series of recommendations aimed at increasing the manufacturing viability of green construction products and shifting the tax burden to support environmentally friendly homes.
MPs welcomed the government’s adoption of an amendment to the bill that means large-scale water projects can be considered nationally important infrastructure.
Another change to ensure electric vehicle charging points are accessible to disabled people has been replaced by a Government revision of the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018 that could see regulations used to impose accessibility.
But the EAC said these changes alone were not enough to ensure the government met its environmental targets as well as its housing targets.
“The government should not deviate from viewing nature as a nuisance or inhibitor of home construction,” the report said.
“At worst, this approach could lead to degradation of the natural world, hindering the achievement of the legally binding climate and nature targets on which our society and economy depend.”
A government spokesman said: “The government has inherited a failed system that has delayed new homes and infrastructure without doing anything to help nature recover.
“We are fixing this with landmark reforms that will create win-wins for the economy and the environment, including the Nature Restoration Fund.
“This will enable Britain to build the 1.5 million homes we desperately need to reignite the dream of homeownership, not at the expense of nature.”
