In its report, , the House of Commons鈥� cross-party Environmental Audit Committee challenges the 鈥渓azy narrative鈥� that nature is a blocker or an inconvenience to delivering housing.
Newts and bats are not to blame for the housing shortage, the committee says, and there are numerous other measures that should be adopted before despoiling the countryside 鈥� including a reduction in VAT for building improvement work.
The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) finds that the measures contained in the Planning & Infrastructure Bill, passing through final stages in parliament, are not enough to allow the government to meet its targets on both the environment and housing.
The MPs also find that without further action, severe skills shortages in ecology, planning and construction will make it impossible for the government to deliver on its house-building ambitions.
While the committee welcomes government amendments to the bill, it says these changes are not enough on their own to ensure the government can meet its environmental targets alongside housing targets.
鈥淭he government must not veer down the path of viewing nature as an inconvenience or blocker to housebuilding,鈥� the committee鈥檚 report says. 鈥淎t worst, this approach could lead to the degradation of the natural world, preventing the achievement of legally binding climate and nature targets, upon which our society and economy depend.鈥�
The Committee also recommends that the government set out a realistic analysis of the construction workforce required to deliver housing targets and the skills that will be needed, and to lay out how Natural England will operate amid staffing cuts and the additional responsibilities that will apply when the Planning & Infrastructure Bill is enacted.聽
Throughout its inquiry, the committee heard repeated concerns that the government鈥檚 changes to the presumption in favour of sustainable development, made in the 2024 review of the National Planning Policy Framework, would lead to the environment being 鈥渟idelined鈥�.
The committee concluded that the present form of the presumption could result in 鈥渦nsustainable and speculative鈥� development. The committee recommends that the government amend the current definition of the presumption, to give greater weight to sustainability. It should also strengthen safeguards against environmentally unsustainable, unplanned and speculative development.
MPs recommend the Government should consider steps it could take to incentivise homeowners, housebuilders, landlords and tenants to favour homes with lower levels of embodied carbon.聽
It also wants the government to support retrofitting over demolition by reducing VAT on retrofit projects from 20%. It suggests that a property brought back into use could count towards house-building targets.
The committee also recommends that the government review tax policies such as council tax and stamp duty to consider the merit of offering lower bands of taxation for homes with lower levels of embodied carbon.
The committee offers support for the government鈥檚 biodiversity net gain policy. It says it is too early to assess the overall success of BNG but warns against introducing new wide-ranging exemptions to BNG. Whilst accepting minor alterations to the policy, MPs say the government should not exempt all small sites to ensure that the effectiveness of the policy is maintained.
The committee also recommends that the government should:
- incentivise the use of sustainable building materials such as timber or hemp by, for example, introducing eco-labelling to identify materials with lower embodied carbon and offer support to further expansion of manufacturers in these fields
- consult on incentives to develop houses with lower full lifecycle carbon, such as a levy on new build properties containing higher levels of lifecycle carbon.
Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee Toby Perkins, Labour MP for Chesterfield, said: 鈥淭he government鈥檚 target to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament is incredibly ambitious. Achieving it alongside our existing targets on climate and sustainability 鈥� which are set in law 鈥� will require effort on a scale not seen before.
鈥淭hat certainly will not be achieved by scapegoating nature, claiming that it is a 鈥榖locker鈥� to housing delivery. We are clear in our report: a healthy environment is essential to building resilient towns and cities. It must not be sidelined.
鈥淭here are certainly issues standing in the way of meeting both our housebuilding and environmental targets.
鈥淔or instance, the skills we need in construction, planning and ecology simply do not exist at the scale we need right now. The Government has made welcome investments in construction skills, but it may not be enough, and staff at local authorities and regulators are already stretched to their limit.聽
鈥淲e also need much better incentives for people to construct and live in carbon-friendly homes, or to retrofit existing ones. That鈥檚 why this report suggests innovative approaches to boost manufacturing viability of climate friendly construction products and alter the tax burden in favour of climate friendly homes.
鈥淚t is possible to build the homes we need while protecting a resilient and healthy environment and allowing nature to thrive. Some major changes might be needed, but nature is not the enemy.鈥�
Conservation lobbyists welcome the EAC鈥檚 findings.
Becky Pullinger, head of land use planning at The Wildlife Trusts, said: 鈥淭he Environmental Audit Committee has hit the nail on the head: the government must stop pretending nature is holding up development. Restoring nature alongside building new homes is not just a nice thing to do: it is essential for our own health, wellbeing and climate resilience.
鈥淔or this to become a reality, ministers must accept changes to the Planning & Infrastructure Bill which ensure that new planning processes avoid destroying legally protected wildlife and natural places. The full potential of biodiversity net gain that requires new projects to improve biodiversity 鈥� leaving the natural environment in a measurably better state than before 鈥� can only be fully realised if exemptions are properly limited so nature and people flourish side by side.
鈥淭he evidence shows that bats and newts were a factor in just 3% of planning appeal decisions in 2024, and so this false scapegoating of nature has to stop. Only then do we stand to reap the many benefits that nature brings to both our daily lives and the economy.鈥�
Federation of Master Builders chief executive Brian Berry, who gave oral evidence to the committee's inquiry, said: "Our country has one of the oldest housing stocks in Europe and moves to retrofit our existing 29 million existing homes have to date been very slow. Government measures are largely focused on social homes with too few incentives for owner occupiers. The committee's report calling on the government to review current tax policies such as council tax and stamp duty echo what many have been saying for many years in the construction sector."
He added: "The committee's call to prioritise retrofitting over demolition by reducing the rate of VAT on retrofit projects from 20% would certainly help create more energy efficient homes whilst at the same time support local building companies who would be best placed to carry out this work. The report's recommendation that the government should confirm that a retrofitted property brought back into use would count towards housebuilding targets would be a significant step to help deliver the government's stated aim to build 1.5 million new homes over the next four years."
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