The emerging impact of biodiversity net gain regulations on UK development

A free data pack from Searchland, a land and property data platform, helps housing developers understand the impact of new net gain policies on biodiversity.

From February 2024, new Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) regulations will become mandatory for most new developments in the UK, with some exceptions for smaller sites.

These regulations require developers to improve habitats and wildlife by at least 10% in order to obtain a building permit.

Given the lengthy process for major planning applications, which can take up to 13 weeks – and up to 16 weeks for applications requiring an environmental impact assessment – ​​the full impact of BNG’s policy is only now beginning to be felt across the industry.

At this early stage of BNG adoption, many developers are still grappling with the complexity of the new requirements.

They want clarity on how best to approach planning applications, including preparing BNG studies, formatting BNG reports and taking the practical steps needed to deliver the mandatory 10% habitat improvements.

To show how these regulations are being applied in practice, Searchland used its extensive planning data services to analyse every planning application submitted in the UK since February 2024.

This analysis focuses on applications that reference or contain documents related to net biodiversity gain.

Searchland has compiled this valuable data, including app proposals and related BNG documents, into a free, comprehensive package that is now available to interested developers.

This resource allows developers to filter applications based on criteria such as building size, local authority, application decisions and application types.

This allows them to identify similar projects and gain insight into the BNG information needed to secure a positive planning outcome. They can also investigate strategies other developers have used to meet the mandatory 10% habitat improvement requirement.

As most people know, a developer can achieve a 10% increase in net biodiversity gain (NBI) by using three main approaches:

1. Create habitat on site: This involves improving the actual land designated for
development.

2. Habitat improvement outside the development area: This can be done on another site owned by the developer
or by purchasing units from the land manager.

3. Buy statutory loans from the government: This is considered a last resort.
The Government then invests in creating habitats in other parts of England.

Developers can combine all three options, but must follow the hierarchy described above. In addition, they must commit to maintaining the habitats created for at least 30 years – whether that’s off-site gains or significant on-site improvements.

Anyone interested in the data can download the package for free here:
https://searchland.co.uk/guides/biodiversity-net-gain-data.

If you would like to find out more about Searchland’s planning application processing tools, industry-leading BNG digital computer survey and hundreds of other land acquisition features, please visit the company’s website: https://searchland.co.uk/.