Government Proposes Targeted Biodiversity Net Gain Reforms For Minor, Medium And Brownfield Development

The Government has published its response to the 2025 consultation on improving the implementation of biodiversity net gain (“BNG”) for minor, medium, and brownfield development in England.  The proposed package of targeted reforms are intended to reduce disproportionate cost and administrative burdens on developers while retaining the core requirement to deliver a minimum 10% net gain from most development.

For small and medium sized developers, the Government will introduce a new exemption for developments with a site area of 0.2 hectares or less, provided no onsite priority habitat is impacted.

The development sector will have hoped for a higher threshold, nevertheless, the 0.2 hectare exemption is still significant. The Government expects it to exempt around 50% of residential planning permissions that would otherwise have been required to deliver BNG.  The government’s rationale for this change is set out in their announcement: