Housebuilding is held back by polluting factory farms

The rapid spread of factory farms and the pollution they cause are being blamed for housebuilding being stalled across the UK.

- JANE DALTON

Many of the areas where waterways are too spoilt for new building to be permitted correspond with factory farming hotspots, analysis has discovered.

And a new map allows householders to see at a glance how badly affected their area is by waste and run-off from industrial agriculture.

It’s the first time a map has been created revealing where the most animal manure is produced and where it is spread, indicating the river catchments most at risk from agricultural pollution.

The interactive “Muck Map” of the UK, based on modelling, reveals that the Severn, Great Ouse, Ouse (in Yorkshire), Trent, Norfolk Rivers Group and the Wye top the list of river catchments most likely to be hit.

Intensive farming is the main cause of river pollution emergencies in England, but national planning rules allow factory farms to be built even in areas already polluted.

In 2019, government body Natural England told 74 local planning authorities with polluted rivers that they may not grant permission for new homes unless they were “nutrient neutral” – where building would not add more harmful chemicals to rivers and streams.

The Home Builders Federation estimates that the policy blocked the building of more than 160,000 properties, saying occupants of new homes contribute less than 1 per cent of nutrient pollution, which also kills wildlife that birds feed on.