Biodiversity net gain rules extended to small developments

Biodiversity net gain (BNG) rules in England have been extended to small developments, following their delayed introduction for major developments in February.

Introduced in the Environment Act 2021, BNG rules require new housing, commercial and infrastructure developments to be 'nature positive'. 

This means developers in England must now deliver 10% BNG, which can be achieved by creating new habitats and green spaces on residential projects with 10 or more dwellings, or where the site is 0.5 ha or more.

From 2 April, BNG is also mandatory for small developments. Small sites are typically those with fewer than 10 homes on a site of less than 1 ha or commercial development where floor space created is less than 1,000 square metres or total site area is less than 1 ha.

There are some exemptions to BNG, so not all small developments will have this requirement. For example, self-build applications of no more than 9 dwellings or on a site smaller than 0.5 ha are exempted from BNG.

This article first appeared on Construction Manager