Image description: A house being constructed in the foreground with fields and trees in the background. Photo by Avel Chuklanov on Unsplash

In direct contradiction to claims made by government ministers, and inquiry by MPs has determined nature is not a blocker to housing growth.

The cross-party Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) branded recent anti-nature rhetoric from the Treasury as a ‘lazy narrative’ when it comes to unlocking housebuilding and Labour chair of the environmental audit committee Toby Perkins said nature was being scapegoated and warned the false narrative should be put to an end.

The report instead found severe skills shortages in ecology, planning and construction would be what made it impossible for the government to deliver on its ambition to build 1.5m new homes by 2029.

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

The planning and infrastructure bill is in its final stages before being passed into law, but is now undergoing “ping pong” between the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Experts have warned that in its current form the bill risks rolling back environmental law to allow developers to sidestep the need for surveys and mitigation on the site of any environmental damage by paying into a central nature recovery fund for improvements to be made elsewhere. Ecologists, environmental groups and some MPs have been working to ensure changes to the draft legislation would keep protections for wildlife and rare habitats as they are. However, the secretary of state for housing, Steve Reed, told MPs to vote down the amendments during a recent Commons vote on the bill.

The committee said it had concerns that the legislation as drafted would mean the government would miss its legally defined target to halt the decline of nature by 2030 and reverse it by 2042.

EAC Recommendations

The EAC has argued that nature is not a “blocker” to delivering housing, rather it is a necessity for building resilient neighbourhoods and the government should focus on addressing a skills shortage in ecology, planning and construction. The EAC suggested offering people better incentives to build and live in “carbon-friendly homes”, or to retrofit existing ones. It outlined a series of recommendations aimed at boosting manufacturing viability of green construction products and alter the tax burden to support eco-friendly homes.

Government Response

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government said: “The Government inherited a failing system that delayed new homes and infrastructure while doing nothing for nature’s recovery.

“We are fixing this with landmark reforms, including the Nature Restoration Fund, that will create a win-win for the economy and the environment.

“This will get Britain building the 1.5 million homes we desperately need to restore the dream of homeownership, and not at the expense of nature.”