POLITICS

Natural England blamed for blocking new homes

Plans for 160,000 properties fall foul of rules
Tom Witherow
The Times
Housebuilding is expected to be a dividing line at the next election
Housebuilding is expected to be a dividing line at the next election
JASON ALDEN/BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES
Tom Witherow
The Times

The green quango Natural England has been accused of blocking 160,000 new homes and helping to push housebuilding to its lowest level since the 1920s.

The Home Builders Federation (HBF) has warned that Natural England’s actions, and recent changes to planning policy, threaten to reduce the number of new homes from 240,000 a year in 2018-19 to 111,000 by 2025.

Rules imposed by Natural England, the agency within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs responsible for protecting the landscape, have led 74 councils to block developments that could not show they would not pollute water systems.

Housebuilding is expected to be a dividing line at the next election after Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, promised in an interview with The Times last