Policy was introduced in 2024 but ministers have since introduced exemptions for smaller builders
Off-site providers of biodiversity units have written to government ministers to urge them not to introduce further exemptions from the government’s net gain policy.
The Biodiversity Net Gain policy requires developers to deliver a minimum 10% increase in biodiversity on their sites or find equivalent alternatives and became mandatory in 2024.
Since its introduction, the policy has led to the emergence of a market for off-site BNG units, with around 1,300 schemes having mitigated their biodiversity impacts off site.
More than 200 habitat banks have been registered and more than 29,000 biodiversity units created.
However, in a bid to increase housebuilding, the government has repeatedly introduced exemptions to the policy for smaller builders and sites.
The BNG Federation, which represented providers of off-site BNG units, has now written to ministers at the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and HM Treasury.
It urged the three bodies that further exemptions to the policy would risk undermining investment, jobs and natural recovery.
Clair Trayner, chief commercial officer at Nattergal and a BNG Federation member, said that developers understood the framework and “do not see it as a blocker”.
“The market has attracted hundreds of millions of pounds of private investment and is creating jobs across rural England, all at no cost to the taxpayer,” she said.
“Policy certainty is critical. Weakening BNG now would risk undermining investor confidence just as the UK is establishing global leadership in nature markets.”
The Federation estimates that more than £350m in private investment has been committed to BNG since 2024.
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