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What is biodiversity net gain?

Biodiversity net gain (BNG) is a new legal requirement that most developments are going to have to comply with from January 2024 onwards, regardless of size. It requires developments to leave the natural environment in a measurably better condition by insisting that all sites give back a 10% biodiversity uplift.

What is the new legislation?

Biodiversity net gain has been introduced in the Environment Act 2021¹ and makes biodiversity gain a condition of planning application. This new law will require planning applicants to produce a new legal document called a 'Biodiversity Gain Plan' and to provide detailed metric calculations on how much biodiversity is on the site before development and how much there will be after development. 

Who is involved?

The new law makes biodiversity net gain a requirement for nearly all new build developments - including small developments (nine units or less). While householder extensions and a few other types of development are exempt, it may be advisable to nonetheless comply with the biodiversity net gain process to help ensure compliance with LPA requirements.

When do the biodiversity net gain rules take effect?

The new law will come into force in England in January 2024. 

How can I find out more information about the biodiversity net gain rules?

Planning Portal have partnered with Joe’s Blooms² to offer information about their biodiversity net gain tools. Joe’s Blooms easy-to-use web tools can help to ensure applicants can easily comply with the new rules. The service provides intuitive tools that allow developers, architects and others to understand the biodiversity net gain process, easily enter all the information they need to enter about their site, produce high-standard, statutorily compliant documents. It streamlines the entire process whilst helping applicants to make cost-effective and environmentally-friendly decisions.

The easy-to-use service lets applicants:

• Find out which requirements apply to their specific site or project;
• Streamlines the process of surveying their site;
• Discover possible options for compliance and assess their cost and effectiveness through our simple step-by-step-step process;
• Automatically generate the mandatory documents their planning application needs, tailored to your project and guaranteed to be statutorily compliant.

Learn more about Joe’s Blooms and how we can help³.

1. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2021/30/schedule/14/enacted
2. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/commercial-developments/biodiversity-gain-tool
3. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/commercial-developments/biodiversity-gain-tool