It does not come with any shock that biodiversity net gain has not been welcomed with the most open arms, since it was announced.
BNG was introduced by the Environment Act 2021 and provided for a minimum of 10% requirement to ensure that developers create a positive benefit for nature and to mitigate the impact of the development.
From 2nd April 2024, the minimum 10% is now mandatory for smaller developments and these are defined as:
Residential development where the number of dwellings is between 1 and 9 on a site area of 1 hectare or less, or if the number of dwellings is unknown the site area is less than 0.5 hectares; or
Commercial development where floor space created is less than 1,000 square metres or total site area is less than 1 hectare: or
Development that is not the winning and working of minerals or the use of land for mineral-working deposits; or
Development that is not waste development.
This is all well and good it seems for the larger developers who have the capital and resources to be able to make this happen. However, for small property developers / housebuilders this becomes another hurdle that they have to jump over and another cost to factor in.
Many property developers have reported that they have had to wait a year for planning to be granted on a site. They also are struggling to get apprentices on site and generally fill jobs and let us not forget the rising cost of materials.
One challenge is that developers are expected to provide Like for Like (or Like for better) so if for example, an area feature such as grassland is lost due to development, this can't be offset with woodland or hedgerow planting, it must be a like-for-like replacement so in this instance, grassland. Why is this an issue? Because sourcing specialist grassland / soils can be incredibly expensive.
The above is just one of the many challenges that smaller developers have to tackle, and at a time where we are faced with an ever growing housing-crisis, smaller property developers / housebuilders are vital to helping achieve this target.
Many SME developers would agree that BNG is not a bad thing, but it could be argued that the rules within it should be less "high maintenance" and more practical, realistic and actionable for smaller developers.
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