BNG review urgently needed to help SMEs speed up housing delivery
SMEs are optimistic proposed ‘rolling reforms’ to environmental regulation will lead to a review of biodiversity net gain and nutrient neutrality rules that are holding up housebuilding.
- 3,500 complex environmental regulations will be streamlined
- Continuous regulatory reform to be pursued
- A single planning portal for advice from all agencies
SME builders back rolling reform of UK’s complex environmental regs
Smaller developers hope ‘rolling regulatory reforms’proposed in a new government review will lead to a rethink of biodiversity net gain, BNG, rules that they claim are delaying housebuilding projects.
BNG requires sites of more than ten homes to offer a biodiversity uplift of ten per cent by creating wildlife habitats on existing land or off-site land or through buying credits.
ThePlan for Change review released today, 2nd April, said the “complex patchwork of over 3,500” environmental regulations must be streamlined if the UK is to hit the 1.5m new homes by 2019 target.
Economist and former charity leader Dan Corry, who led the review, described the current system as letting down nature and growth.
“We must focus on good outcomes and nature enhancement, not on rigidly preserving everything at any cost.
“Simply scrapping regulations isn’t the answer – instead, we need modern, streamlined regulation that is easier for everyone to use.
“While short-term trade-offs may be needed, these reforms will ultimately deliver a win-win for both nature and economic growth in the longer run.”
His review has proposed a “continuous programme of reform” to pinpoint rapid actions and longer-term areas for improvements to regulation.
BNG review urgently needed to help SMEs speed up housing delivery
National Federation of Builders, NFB, policy head Rico Wojtulewicz said rolling regulatory reform offered the chance to fix rules that weren’t working such as BNG introduced a year ago.
“Thereview period for the BNG metric doesn’t need to be in three to five years and solutions, such as onsite fabric and site design to support local species, can target biodiversity improvements directly while ensuring SME-sized sites are viable and can start more quickly,” said Mr Wojtulewicz.
Brokers Hank Zarihs Associates said development finance lenders supported reviewing BNG rules which had caused delays and extra costs to SME developers.
Asurvey released this week by the Homebuilders Federation, HBF,showed98 per cent of SMEs found implementing BNG rules challenging.Eight out of ten SMEs said they were a major barrier to growth. Nine out of ten SMEs and larger housebuilders said they had experienced delays due to insufficient local authority BNG expertise or resources.
The housebuilding industry hopes rolling regulatory reform will enable revision of nutrient neutrality rules stalling an estimated 145,000 new homes across one in four local authorities in England. The rules introduced in 2019 stipulatea housing scheme should not increase river pollution in sensitive sites where nutrient levels are high.
Housebuilders claim intensive farming isthe real culprit as the built environment contributes to less than five per cent of raised phosphates and nitrates in rivers.
Key review proposals include a single lead regulator for major infrastructure projects,a single planning permit portal for adviceand reviewing and streamlining existing compliance guidance.
LinkedIn Question: What is the biggest barrier for housebuilders’ delivery – complicated regulation or under-resourced local planning authorities?
