A Clean Water Bill has been included in the government’s legislative agenda set out in the King’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament.

Details were included in a briefing document published by the Cabinet Office setting out all of the proposed bills following the ceremony, according to leading industry title Planning Resource.

It will ‘unlock’ housing delivery through ‘reforms’ to the New Appointments and Variations framework which ‘enables new water and wastewater companies to be appointed for new developments’.

According to the briefing document, the bill ‘will support the delivery of ambitious housing targets, alongside strengthened planning powers, and measures to promote competition in infrastructure delivery’.

It states: “This will help get critical water infrastructure built faster, support new homes, and lower long-term costs for consumers.”

Planning Resource reports that last September  lobby group the Home Builders’ Federation (HBF) published a report that said nearly 30,000 homes were being held up over local authority fears about inadequate wastewater infrastructure, including 7,000 affordable homes.

Planning Resource’s own investigation last July found that that thousands of homes were being held up due to increasing fears over the ability of water companies to process the waste water from new homes.

The briefing document also showed that the government also plans to introduce a Social Housing Renewal Bill  to ‘reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and give providers greater regulatory certainty so that they can invest in new social and affordable homes with confidence’.

The State Opening of Parliament heralded the start of the second session of this parliamentary term.

King Charles III delivered the king’s speech, setting out the government’s legislative agenda for the parliamentary session.

We will keep you updated about the introduction of this legislation and its potential implications.