New And Amended BNG Exemptions Incoming

In England, biodiversity net gain has been required for all major development since 12 February 2024 and for small sites since 2 April 2024 (with some exceptions). Within the statutory framework, planning permission is deemed to have been granted subject to the condition that the biodiversity gain objective must be met, the objective being to ensure delivery of at least a 10% increase in biodiversity value relative to the pre-development biodiversity value of the onsite habitat.

Exemptions to the 10% biodiversity net gain objective

There are specific exemptions from the requirement to provide biodiversity net gain and from the 6 August onwards, the following exemptions will be added:

• NEW: exemption for developments of sites of 0.2 hectare or less where no onsite priority habitats are impacted (regulation 7A)¹ ;