Plans to boost house building blocked

14 September 2023

Controversial government plans to scrap EU laws relating to water pollution levels in an attempt to enable more new houses to be built have been blocked by the House of Lords. 

The original plan was reported earlier on the blog. 

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities had said that the regulations blocked the delivery of new homes, including cases where planning permission had already been granted. It believes that the level of nutrients entering rivers from new homes is very small. 

Ministers believe up to 100,000 new homes could be built by 2030 if the regulations were removed. However, environmental groups believed water pollution would be increased and opposition parties moved to defeat the government. 

Given the ongoing need to build more homes, the government will need to come up with other ideas to meet this pressing need, which would boost construction companies and the hirers serving them.  

Photo: Ryan Collis