Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) delivery will become mandatory for the majority of housebuilders and developers in November 2023, and a growing number of local authorities are already imposing it as a planning requirement.
Please see two articles we recently published on this topic below:
Developers will be required to demonstrate that they will deliver a minimum 10% net gain from the pre-development bio-diversity value of new developments.
To achieve net gain in a way that is consistent with the mitigation hierarchy, developers will be required to follow these steps in order:
1. aim to avoid or reduce biodiversity impacts through site selection and layout
2. enhance and restore biodiversity on-site
3. create or enhance off-site habitats, either on their own land or by purchasing biodiversity units on the market, and
4. as a last resort to prevent undue delays, purchase statutory biodiversity credits from the UK Government where on-site and off-site options are not available.
In practice, delivery of BNG on-site may not be viable or attractive and developers may need to turn to the off-site options. These are essentially the developer buying off-site land to deliver BNG itself, or securing an agreement or conservation covenant from a third party who will then deliver off-site BNG, or buying biodiversity units on the newly emerging market, for example, from a habitat bank.
These delivery requirements will need to be reflected in land acquisition agreements. Some examples of the provisions that we expect to see built into acquisition contracts, options and promotion agreements to address BNG requirements are:
The involvement of any third party land outside the development site may cause delay and uncertainty and we are already seeing the structure of transactions changing to address these risks.
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