Plans to weaken environmental regulations for small housebuilders would allow developers in England to build on an area the size of the Yorkshire Dales in the next 10 years without replacing the nature they destroy, according to analysis.
Labour wants to remove the requirement for small housebuilders – those whose sites are under a hectare (2.5 acres) – to replace the nature they destroy under existing rules known as biodiversity net gain.
Ministers are consulting on plans to tear up the rules for small developers in an attempt to increase housing. Analysis of Labour’s proposal by environmental economists from the consultancy Eftec, suggests 97% of planning approvals – 76,800 out of 79,300 every year – would be exempt from the requirement to replace destroyed nature.
