Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to encourage more environmentally conscious house-building that takes into account established trees and local bird populations.

Our revised National Planning Policy Framework, published in July 2018, asks local authorities to support development whose primary objective is to conserve or enhance biodiversity. Opportunities to incorporate biodiversity improvements in and around developments should also be encouraged, especially where this can secure measurable net gains for biodiversity. These gains could include the safeguarding of established trees or bird populations, access to new green space, and provision of green infrastructure such as swift bricks or hedgehog highways. The government will use the forthcoming Environment Bill to mandate biodiversity net gain for development in England ensuring that the delivery of much-needed infrastructure and housing is not at the expense of vital biodiversity.