Housebuilders are right to expect better from politicians after nutrients reform failure

2023-09-18T05:17:00

Michael Gove has sought to blame Labour for defeat of government proposal, but nutrients reform package was set up to fail, says Joey Gardiner

A “national disgrace” is how the boss of the Home Builders Federation described the House of Lords defeat for government over its nutrient neutrality reforms, and you can see why he’s upset. Builders say upwards of 150,000 homes are currently held up in planning by the issue, with local SME builders in affected areas among those hardest hit by a crisis that now has little prospect of abating.

Michael Gove, who tweeted after the defeat that Labour had done “nothing to enable new housing”, appeared to be relishing the opportunity to (for once) show himself to be on the side of the industry, thwarted from his plans to tackle the housing crisis by an opportunist, regressive Labour Party.

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