Labour MPs are planning to rebel over the Planning and Infrastructure Bill after concerns were raised over possible threats to protected habitats and wildlife.
It is thought that around two dozen Labour MPs will call for ministers to force developers to build over a million homes which have already received planning permission before legislation is changed to around environmental protections.
Ministers are believed to be drawing up amendments to part three of the bill in a bid to prevent the rebellion and allay the concerns of wildlife groups who have publicly criticized the plans.
Part three of the bill would see developers achieve their environmental obligations by paying into a central nature restoration fund which would be used to make environmental improvements elsewhere at a later date.
Beccy Speight, chief executive of the RSPB, said: “The government must stop portraying this planning bill as a win-win for nature and economic growth. It is not. A thriving natural world is essential to underpin both growth and a resilient future. It’s not too late for the government to address the issues with part three of the bill, and put forward legislation that can actually deliver economic growth and restore nature at scale.”
Earlier this week, The Guardian wrote that the planning bill rolls back environmental protections for over 5,000 of the most rare, protected and sensitive habitats in England, according to the three separate legal opinions including the Office for Environmental Protection. Wildlife charities have called for the government to scrap part three and amend the bill when it returns to parliament on Monday.
Chris Hinchliff, the Labour MP for North East Hertfordshire, said that the current bill would allow developers to sidestep environmental protections and has submitted several amendments to the bill aimed at strengthening protections for nature while also accusing the housebuilding sector of landbanking.
Hinchliff said: “This legislation strips back environmental protections and local democracy but does nothing to stop developers drip-feeding developments to inflate prices. The planning system consistently approves more homes than get built. The bottleneck isn’t simply process, it’s profit.”
Terry Jermy, the Labour MP for South West Norfolk, said: “Ensuring that homes with planning permission get built in a timely manner is part of the solution to our housing needs. There’s a housing shortage in the country, which is costing local councils and the government huge sums of money in emergency and temporary accommodation, and the dream of home ownership remains out of reach for many. Tackling landbanking needs to form part of the government’s focus to bring about the change needed.”
Dr Maya Singer Hobbs, a senior research fellow at IPPR, said: “Developers are not deliberately building slowly to stymie housebuilding, but they are not going to build at a rate that will reduce house prices – it’s not in their interest to do this, and indeed they have legal obligations to shareholders that would prevent this. There might be a case to explore whether giving local authorities the power to apply a ‘use it or lose it’ approach to planning permission would speed up delivery.”
