Biodiversity Net Gain: Government Announces Deferral For Small Sites

As has been well signposted, the Environment Act 2021 introduced the obligation to deliver 10% Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) in connection with certain developments. Without being able to secure this, developers will be unable to commence work under relevant planning permissions. The obligation had been due to be brought into effect in November 2023.

On 21 February, the output of the government's consultation on the implementation of BNG was published. As well as confirming certain exemptions (such as self-build/custom housebuilding and householder planning applications) the government issued a statement confirming a six month delay for implementing BNG on small sites until April 2024; it is referred to as a phased introduction to adapt to the new rules. For the purposes of the deferral, a small residential site is defined in the statement as one providing less than 10 dwellings on a site smaller than 1hectare. For non-residential schemes, a small site is defined