Toxic trade-off: The cost of factory farming on the UK’s housing future 

New research by Compassion in World Farming, Friends of the Earth and Sustain has found that

• A third of the areas in England ranked highest for projected housing demand1 are in regions too polluted to build homes.   
• Norfolk, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Dorset and Wiltshire are some of the areas in nutrient neutrality zones in England most affected by pollution from intensive livestock units.
• Intensive pig and poultry farming in 2023 produced 18% more nitrates per year than in 2016. This equates to 27,000 additional tonnes of nitrates every year. Assuming intensive livestock farming continues to expand at its current rate, annual nitrate production could be up by 32% on 2016 levels by 2028.

Recommendations

In order for the UK to achieve its housing aims and its nature recovery and climate targets, nutrient pollution from agriculture must be reduced at source. To do so, England must transition to a more sustainable food production approach, centred on equity and justice, including:

1. Government, ministers and local authorities must work to halt any further expansion of intensive livestock in polluted catchments i.e. those containing protected sites in unfavourable condition, or catchments in which rivers are not in good ecological or chemical status.
2. Planning policy reform: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government should adopt the recommendations of the Environmental Audit Committee in the new National Planning Policy Framework for England – currently undergoing public consultation.
3. DEFRA must ensure that equitable, just routes are created for farmers and workers to transition out of intensive livestock farming and into fairer and more sustainable systems, which create better rural livelihoods.
4. DEFRA and MPs must ensure that the forthcoming Land Use Strategy sets out how we can address the challenges of climate change, food security and nature recovery where there is competition for land in the UK, so that planning and environmental needs can be met.
5. DEFRA and the Treasury must ensure that nutrient pollution is properly regulated by reversing damaging funding cuts to the Environment Agency.