Building new council homes will be delayed due to the sudden introduction of measures to clean up Norfolk's waterways, a council boss has warned.

New restriction on the planning system, intended to keep waterways clean, has led to knock-on problems for building social housing, the leader of Norwich City Council has said.

While Alan Waters acknowledged the need for the measures and the importance of protecting the waterways throughout the county, he said the sudden introduction caught the council off guard.

Earlier this month, Norfolk’s councils were informed that they must not grant planning permission for any schemes involving 'overnight accommodation' until they can prove developments would not lead to phosphates and other nutrients flowing into the River Wensum and the Broads.

Natural England and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) say councils need to make assessments against which developers can prove their schemes are nutrient neutral by providing mitigation if necessary.

“It just appeared, it wasn’t on the radar,” Mr Waters said.

“We have got to get this compliance sorted out as quickly as possible.

“There are a number of housing developments in the city which will have to be delayed as we have to resolve this issue.

“Norwich City Council wants to get on building council homes and this will hold that up at a time when there is already a massive waiting list. I hope it won’t impact things for too long, it has some serious ramifications.”

While developments that have already been approved, like plans for 76 homes at the Bowthorpe Three Score site, will not be stopped, others could see delays.

Mr Waters said this could include a plan for between 150 and 200 homes at the former Mile Cross Depo and 14 homes on Argyle Street.

Mr Waters said the authority was not happy about the "incredibly short notice period," arguing it could have been informed earlier if the government was using 2019 data.

“We fully understand the environmental need for this to be addressed but it boils down to a lack of sufficient notice.

"There was a limited amount of house building in the pandemic where this could have been addressed."

Mr Waters suggested the sudden implementation flies in the face of government plans for levelling up, which requires investment and homebuilding and questioned if government departments were talking to each other.

Mr Waters also warned it would impact a major source of council income. With home building generating cash through things like community infrastructure levies - a charge on developments to help deliver infrastructure.

Council leaders have united to write to the government to ask them to look at the consequences.

The catchment area affected by the new regulations covers a large chunk of the county, encompassing all of Norwich and most of Broadland, South Norfolk and North Norfolk, along with smaller parts of Breckland, Great Yarmouth borough and West Norfolk.

Across Norfolk, some 10,000 homes are believed to not be able to receive formal sign-off.

Some of that number, such as the proposed 1,100 homes at Anglia Square in Norwich, are still some months from being formally considered for permission.

However, uncertainty remains over how long it will be before the authorities are again able to grant such permissions.

A Defra spokesman confirmed that the new measures were permanent and would not be reversed.

In a blogpost, Defra's director of sustainable development Melanie Hughes said that advice, guidance and tools to respond to the new requirements had been issued to councils.

She said: "We recognise that nutrient neutrality won’t be easy to adopt in many cases.

"But we would like to assure our stakeholders that Natural England, working alongside our partners, will support planning authorities and developers to implement it effectively so that they can build sustainable new homes and contribute to healthy rivers, lakes and estuaries nearby."