Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) - The Environment Act 2021: The Impact on My House Build

‍

BNG was introduced by the Environment Act 2021 and forms part of the government’s plans to halt species decline by 2030. This means that from November 2023 any development of one house or more, including self-builds will need to provide a 10% increase on the contribution to biodiversity that the site already contributes.

‍

‍

This will be above and beyond the usual requirements that might be incurred during demolitions i.e. provision of bat boxes and nesting bird boxes. The push will be for all of this to be contained on-site, but if this is not possible, then the option is to pay for this to be provided elsewhere - as nearby as possible, but also to pay for this to be maintained for the next 30 years! For a one-off house on a tight infill site, this further cost could make the difference between pressing on or not, surely contrary to government policy to promote self-building your own home. 

‍

from November 2023 any development of one house or more, including self-builds will need to provide a 10% increase on the contribution to biodiversity that the site already contributes.

‍

A lot of local planning authorities are already requiring this when considering planning applications, despite the latest guidelines that the deadline for smaller one-off projects has now been extended to spring 2024. Most house-builders are just counting this as another on-cost to be incurred, and as land with planning permission is so valuable, ideally the BNG will be accommodated off-site and maintained by a specialist BNG provider. It’s a great incentive, and an attempt to address the balance between development and destroying our natural environment and so should be embraced. The reality is though in a country that has limited land supply, the cost of BNG will be passed onto the landowners, which together with the cost of lots of other local issues will reach a point whereby it will not be worth their time selling the land, and more development opportunities will either grind to a halt or become even more expensive. A real conundrum as the affordability of new homes is one of the most difficult issues to overcome for the next generations.

‍