UK drops some water pollution rules to boost housebuilding

LONDON, Aug 29 (Reuters) – Britain said on Tuesday it would scrap some European Union rules it had upheld after Brexit aimed at curbing water pollution to allow thousands of new homes to be built, a move which, according to environmentalists, would further ruin dirty rivers.

The EU’s “nutrient neutrality” laws were put in place to ensure development doesn’t contaminate waterways with extra chemicals that make plants grow, from sources like agricultural fertilizers and untreated sewage.

The British government claimed that while nutrient input into rivers was “a real problem”, the contribution from new housing was “very small”.

Britain has been dealing with a housing shortage for decades. The government’s Department of Grading, Housing and Communities said in a statement that the rule change would allow more than 100,000 homes to be built by 2030.

“Today’s announcement… will also provide a £18bn boost to our economy and support tens of thousands of jobs, and we can do this because it was previously a disproportionate and misdirected old EU rule that blocked these houses,” “Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters.

The government statement quoted David Thomas, boss of Barratt, Britain’s biggest homebuilder.(BDEV.L)that he welcomed the move, which he said would allow the company to build more homes, including 2,500 that were now at a standstill.

The Wildlife Trusts charity criticized the decision, saying the laws were aimed at preventing pollution rather than housing.

“Removing regulations that simply try to prevent rivers from becoming more polluted will allow vested interests to make more money at the expense of our rivers and the natural environment,” said Wildlife Trusts chief executive Craig Bennett.

Doug Parr, chief scientist at environmental group Greenpeace UK, urged the government to force water companies and homebuilders to invest in infrastructure to better manage wastewater, so that the health of rivers is not sacrificed in for the construction of more houses.

A research report released by the government in May said around 340,000 new homes needed to be supplied in England each year, more than the Conservative Party’s 2019 election manifesto target of 300,000 homes per year by the mid-2020s.

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