Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith will introduce a range of measures to “scrap unnecessary net zero housing red tape” (picture: Alamy)

Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith has confirmed plans to scrap Section 106 agreements, the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Future Homes Standard.

In an overnight statement on regulatory cuts to be announced at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Mr Griffith introduced a range of measures to “scrap unnecessary net zero housing red tape” that he believes would cut the price buyers pay for new homes by £50,000.

Section 106 and CIL payments, which commit developers to building affordable homes and contributing to local infrastructure, will be replaced with a new “one stop” levy.

The changes also propose scrapping the Future Homes Standard, which comes into force in 2027 and requires new homes to include heat pumps and other renewable technologies. It aims to make homes zero carbon by default by cutting energy consumption and reliance on fossil fuels.

Speaking ahead of Mr Griffith at the conference this afternoon, Katie Lam, shadow secretary for housing, communities and local government, said: “Net zero regulations alone are adding tens of thousands of pounds to the cost of a new home.”

The Conservatives’ said its plans are based on local authorities’ viability assessments.

“So I am very happy to tell you today that the next Conservative government will slash regulations like these and, in doing so, bring down the cost of a new home by £50,000,” Ms Lam said.

A new infrastructure levy to replace Section 106 and CIL payments “will put a stop to the endless negotiations [between councils and developers], end delays and give local people full control over how to invest in their own communities”, she added.

Mr Griffith told the BBC ahead of speech this morning that the party is on the side of people “who want to get on in life, get a job and get a home” and so would “remove a lot of red tape and regulations”.

He added that many people would still choose to take advantage of renewable technology, but should not “have it forced on them”.

These latest plans come after Conservatives’ proposals to cut Local Housing Allowance in order to fund higher defence spending and end the provision of social housing for foreign nationals, if the party wins power.

In response, Dr Ellie Chowns, the Green Party MP for North Herefordshire, said the plans showed the Conservatives are “once again pretending that protecting nature is a blocker to building the homes and infrastructure this country desperately needs”.

“The real barriers are decades of underinvestment, under-regulation of cowboy contractors and big developers, and a lack of ambition to build the genuinely affordable, energy-efficient homes people need,” Dr Chowns said.

“It is completely outrageous that, as evidence of climate breakdown and environmental collapse becomes ever-more impossible to ignore, the Conservatives would prefer to tear up environmental standards, weaken climate protection and abolish organisations charged with protecting nature, rather than tackle the genuine issues affecting building in Britain.”

Mr Griffith would also see the abolition of Natural England and the Environment Agency, seen by the Conservative Party as brakes on development, as part of the “most ambitious deregulation project in a generation”.

Jill Rutter, a senior fellow at thinktank the Institute for Government, said on Bluesky: “You might hate the Environment Agency and Natural England – but am not sure how good your evidence base is that there is a latent majority for poorer air quality, more pollution and (even more) destruction of nature, and homes that are going to require big retrofits.”

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Conservatives announce plans to scrap Section 106, CIL and Future Homes Standard