The government has been accused of watering down rules that require developers to leave wildlife habitats in a better state than they found them when building new homes.
Ministers are seeking to give a boost to smaller housing developments with faster planning decisions and financial backing to speed up building new homes.
Under the proposals, Labour would cut red tape and shift planning decisions away from councillors and towards expert officers – all as part of efforts to meet Sir Keir Starmer‘s pledge to build 1.5 million homes by 2029-30.
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The consultation will also consider easing biodiversity net gain requirements for minor developments. At the moment, these mean builders must pay to boost nature habitats if they are impacted by the development process.
But the government hopes to create a new category for medium-sized developments – those with between 10 and 49 homes – with fewer costs, simplified biodiversity net gain rules and an exemption from the building safety levy.
An 89-strong coalition of environment groups has warned that these reduced biodiversity rules would mean the vast majority of housing developments would no longer need to compensate for nature loss.
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The Wildlife and Countryside Link also suggested that developers could be allowed to break up large projects into smaller ones to avoid the rules.
Richard Banwell, the group’s chief executive, has urged the government not to “turn back the clock to the days of damaging development” with changes to this system.
He said: “Exempting small sites would mean almost three-quarters of developments face no requirement to compensate for nature loss – let alone enhance it.
“These changes could leave the biodiversity net gain system dead in the water and, with it, the government’s main guarantee of nature-positive planning.”
However, the government has described the simplified biodiversity net gain rules for medium-sized developments as a “win-win for nature and development”.
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Ministers are also seeking to support smaller firms by offering £100m in accelerator loans.
A new National Housing Delivery Fund to be confirmed at the spending review will support long-term finance options – such as revolving credit – for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said it was time to “level the playing field” for smaller housebuilders.
“Smaller housebuilders must be the bedrock of our Plan for Change to build 1.5 million homes and fix the housing crisis we’ve inherited – and get working people on the housing ladder,” she said.
