Measures to accelerate housebuilding have been set out as part of wider proposals for the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
Changes to environmental rules will support the government’s commitment to build 1.5 million homes and advance 150 major infrastructure project decisions, while also helping halt and reverse the decline of species and natural habitats.
A new Nature Restoration Fund would enable developers to meet their environmental obligations more quickly and with greater impact – accelerating the building of homes and improving the environment.
Currently developers may need to secure mitigation for environmental harm before being granted planning permission.
This adds cost, delays and can entirely block the housing and infrastructure our country needs – with rules too focused on preserving the status quo instead of supporting growth and charting a course to nature recovery.
Under these reforms, developers will instead be able to pay into the fund allowing building to proceed immediately – quicker, simpler, and more certain that the broken status quo.
A delivery body, such as Natural England, will then take responsibility for securing positive environmental outcomes, for example, delivering a reduction in nutrient pollution affecting the water environment or securing habitats to increase the population of a protected species.
Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Angela Rayner said, “Getting Britain building means stripping away unnecessary barriers to growth to deliver the homes that we so desperately need.
“For years, vital housing and infrastructure projects have been tied up in red tape leaving communities without the homes, infrastructure and jobs they need.
“Our Plan for Change will put an end to the status quo while restoring nature. It’s win-win for development and our environment, including targeted reforms allowing us to use the economic benefits of growth to fund tangible and targeted action for nature’s recovery.”
The proposals set out three steps the government will take to help developers get building while delivering their environmental obligations in a more sensible and strategic way.
This approach will mean developers don’t have to pay for individual site level assessments for the matters covered by the Nature Restoration Fund – which adds cost and delay – and will no longer have to deliver mitigation needed.
A single payment will enable development to proceed. A delivery body will then take the actions needed to drive nature recovery at a strategic, not site-by-site, scale.
Government will lead a single strategic assessment and delivery plan for an area – not an individual site – which will allow decisions to be made at an appropriate geographic scale.
Nature recovery at scale
Rob Hindle, Executive Director, Rural Solutions, said, “The government’s intention to take a more strategic approach to unlocking the development of housing and infrastructure in a way that can deliver nature recovery at scale is a necessary and welcome shift. Not only have the current arrangements stymied development, they have created uncertainty in emerging markets for nature-based solutions which has constrained investment in and the delivery of environmental benefits.
“Whilst the implementation of BNG and nutrient neutrality have been lacking, the principle remains absolutely valid and these proposed changes, if properly resourced and implemented, could improve environmental benefits and have the potential to present rural landowners with a renewed opportunity to respond and to deliver nature recovery at scale.”
Government proposes that a public delivery body would consider which actions are needed to address the environmental impact of development across an appropriate area and determine how much developers will pay into the Nature Restoration Fund. The delivery body will secure the actions funded by developers, removing the need for actions to be taken on a case by case basis.
Contributions will be secured from developers to fully fund nature recovery actions. This would enable developers to meet certain environmental obligations through a single payment into the Nature Restoration Fund.
The proposals are set out in a working paper, which seeks views from stakeholders including communities, housing and clean power developers, nature service providers and local authorities. Feedback from the working paper will inform the next stage of policy development.
Biodiversity Net Gain
Nick White, Principal Advisor, Net Gain at Natural England, sought to reassure people that biodiversity net gain is here to stay. “I am aware of some concerns and commentary about the future of Biodiversity Net Gain following the government’s recent planning reform proposals linked to the Planning & Infrastructure Bill. Specifically, concerns raised by offsite gain providers about the future of habitat banking in relation to the proposals for a new Nature Restoration Fund that have been set out.”
He said, “In its proposals government has specifically addressed this, stating that it continues to ‘fully support’ the private market-place for offsite biodiversity units.”
White highlighted Paragraph 27 of the planning reform working paper, which states, “These proposals are not expected to have any substantive impact on the implementation of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), which is a widely applicable planning obligation in England. BNG incentivises nature positive choices on development sites, with a developing private marketplace for off-site biodiversity units which the government continues to fully support.”
Nutrient neutrality
Nutrient neutrality assessments currently require bespoke calculations and significant technical expertise at the level of each individual project. In the working paper, the government says that it recognises that the current approach can be “burdensome, costly and uncertain.”
“Given the different types of environmental harm that can affect our network of protected sites, species and wider environment,” the working paper says, “it is important that such a framework is flexible in three respects.
“First, it needs to be able to encompass a wide range of impacts, from direct effects on species to in-combination effects such as nutrient pollution – and be sufficiently
future-proofed to respond to new issues that emerge – second, it has to be capable of operating through the appropriate delivery body for the issue in question, for example Natural England for nutrient pollution – which again future-proofs the framework against any institutional changes – and third, it must allow for a broad range of actions to be identified and taken forward, at the right geographic scale – using the expertise of the delivery body and reflecting the objective of delivering positive environmental outcomes.”
Kim Connor Streich, Chief Commercial Officer at Greenshank Environmental, said he was please to note that the government plans to adopt the levy proposal for dealing with the nutrient neutrality issue. He said, “This has the potential to free up house building, reduce the cost of mitigation for developers more quickly and, very importantly, protect and even improve on outcomes from the environment. The previous governments missed multiple opportunities to adopt a pragmatic approach so this is very welcome.
“The devil will be in the details and the success of this policy will hinge on the right buying mechanism – we need a market-based approach to the purchasing of mitigation/compensation; No fixed value per house – we need the levy payment based on the quantum of detriment caused (as measured in kg) as this will incentivise best practice onsite; more resources to get nutrient neutrality schemes approved; and a pragmatic approach to spatial requirements.”
Read the working paper, Planning Reform Working Paper: Development and Nature Recovery