Brookbanks is proud to have assisted the HBF in the research published in The Times this morning. The research highlights the disproportionate impact the current nutrient neutrality rules are having on new housing delivery in England.
Brookbanks have worked with the Home Builders Federation (HBF) to review the extent to which new home building contributes to nutrient pollution in England’s watercourses. The main contributor of phosphorus to watercourses comes from sewage discharged from wastewater treatment works directly into the watercourses.
Despite this, there is little pressure on the water authorities to clean up the sewage further. Instead, the onus has been placed onto the housebuilder to mitigate the impacts, typically at high costs to the developer with little benefit to the occupant, developer and even the watercourses, due to the minimal amount of nutrients discharged from these new sites.
Brookbanks are the UKs leading technical experts in development related nutrient impacts.
Get in touch with us to find out more about this research and how we can assist.
The 11th June 2025 Spending Review marked a profound shift in the government’s approach to housing, planning, and infrastructure — placing long-term affordability, delivery certainty, and strategic investment at the centre of economic policy.
The Government’s Planning Reform Working Paper proposes a series of bold measures to accelerate housing delivery, including stronger local authority powers, penalties for delayed build outs, and new transparency requirements for developers.
A recent report by the Home Builders Federation estimates that local authorities currently hold over £6bn of unspent Section 106 developer contributions.