Introducing the new Biodiversity Net Gain Legislation

In 2018, the government published a 25-year Environment Plan (A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment). In this report, there was an acknowledgement that biodiversity in the UK had declined, and it was important to allow nature to rebuild.  Following consultation, the government decided to make it a legal requirement for all development in the UK to have a ‘biodiversity net gain’ to ensure that the natural environment around a construction site is in a better state than when they arrived. This legislation came into effect on 12^th February 2024.

What is Biodiversity Net Gain?

Biodiversity net gain is a way of creating and improving natural habitats. The gain is measured against a pre-development baseline and achieved by creating new habitats, restoring existing habitats, and improving habitat connectivity.

Now that the legislation is operational, all developers will have to assess the pre-development biodiversity value. This is to be calculated through a biodiversity metric which is produced by Natural England. Once this has been calculated, the developer will need to prepare a biodiversity net gain plan which must demonstrate that the site will have a biodiversity gain of at least 10% following development – again by reference to the metric produced by Natural England. This net gain plan must then be sent to the Local Planning Authority. They will only sign off on the development if the biodiversity net gain plan has been approved.*

The starting point for a developer is to see if the 10 % gain can be achieved on site. To do this the input of an ecologist is likely to be required so that the site can be properly designed, and that requirement met. For example, if there was a housing development, then a good proportion of the site might be established as a wildflower meadow which would score highly in the metric.

Who Biodiversity Net Gain rules will affect

You need to know about the new rules if you’re a developer of:  

• major developments when BNG becomes mandatory   
• small sites from April 2024     
• nationally significant infrastructure projects from late November 2025    
• land manager wanting to sell in the BNG market  
• local planning authority (LPA)

How does it affect conveyancing?

The legislation and the scheme will only apply to England – not to the rest of the UK. It will primarily apply to commercial transactions. As commercial conveyancing solicitors, having an understanding of these changes will ensure seamless navigation through the evolving legal landscape for you and your client.

There is a helpful step by step guidance for developers on the gov.uk website where you can find more information. Landmark, our search partner, hosted a webinar last year explaining how developers can prepare for these changes. You can watch it here.

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*Information is taken from the Landmark Academy website