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Yes, you can. With 327 Habitat Banks across England there are plenty of units for you to buy. When you do, you completely sever your ecological liability. Buying off-site is a clean break. After you buy, you may proceed to planning with no hang-ups and no extra costs.
If available, you can purchase BNG units right away, with no liability and an easy route through the planning process.
If you can not find the Biodiversity Units you need, please get in touch with us for an up-to-date list of Habitat Banks and available BNG units
The situation can be very nuanced depending on your geography, land type, and value. A very rough potential revenue estimate for per hectare earnings, spread over 30 years, would be between £60,000 to £300,000.
Yes, you can. With 327 Habitat Banks across England there are plenty of units for you to buy. When you do, you completely sever your ecological liability. Buying off-site is a clean break. After you buy, you may proceed to planning with no hang-ups and no extra costs.
If available, you can purchase BNG units right away, with no liability and an easy route through the planning process.
If you can not find the Biodiversity Units you need, please get in touch with us for an up-to-date list of Habitat Banks and available BNG units.
Since the Environment Act became law, we have been busily establishing a national network of Habitat Banks that will generate the local Biodiversity Units needed by developers to meet their stringent Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) planning conditions.
These Habitat Banks are doing much more than fulfilling BNG legislation, however. Working alongside local planning authorities, they are also supporting the implementation of local nature recovery strategies, which are rather like conservation plans for the next 30 years. These are plans with which we can deliver nature recovery and sustainable development.
The gold-standard Habitat Banks, created by ecologists, render the best possible outcomes for nature off-site.
The provider of the Habitat Bank bears all funding and management responsibilities throughout the life of the bank and for the foreseeable future. Therefore, a developer can acquire Biodiversity Units which have a clean break, meaning that all long-term liability remains with the provider.
At first, there's none; you just let the ecologist do the survey. If you make an agreement to sell the offsetting credits, then you will be responsible for creating and managing the habitats for 30 years.
After doing a site assessment, you’ll need to talk to your ecologist to determine the best way to sell the credits.
Presently, you may not use any other funding sources along with the selling of BNG credits. For instance, you may not sell carbon credits simultaneously. If you do, the two credit systems are seen as counting the same ecological benefit twice - double-counting.
Leasehold or freehold interests in land are owned by the Habitat Banks.
Working with local farmers and land managers, your ecologist creates and enhances your habitat. They also take care of the necessary capital works.
Biodiversity units are available now. The provider manages the site for the full term in respect of the off-site biodiversity units and they guarantee that it will generate the required biodiversity gains.
The Habitat Bank is governed by a s.106 agreement or conservation covenant and the are required to comply with the Environment Act 2021 and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
Your BNG provider will monitor, report and secure funding (incl. capital costs) for the lifetime of the project to ensure long-term planning obligations are met.
Environmental stakeholders and the local authority that governs the area where the habitat bank is located are kept informed.
Ecologists via our organisation work in close conjunction with landowners and developers to establish Habitat Management and Monitoring Plans (HMMPs) that are fully compatible with site plans and achieve a Biodiversity Net Gain.
Existing habitats can often be enhanced, and new habitats can be created to favourable effect. One way to achieve this is to plant wildflower meadows, hedges, and trees. Another largely successful way to achieve this is through extensive planting (as at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London) and numerous other routes to habitat creation that favour the local condition.
When on-site measures can not yield Biodiversity Net Gain, off-site solutions can be employed (i.e. biodiversity credits). Contact us to learn more.
Property owners can sell Biodiversity Credits while engaging local authorities or brokerages in the process. These credits are accumulated when landowners improve biodiversity on their land.
To earn the credits, property owners must undergo an assessment process using the UK Government’s Biodiversity Metric. They first need to get in touch with local authorities or brokerages to schedule a property survey. The property is then assessed for biodiversity.
Local authorities and brokerages use the results from these assessments to determine “net gain”: a conservation term that describes whether property under development has improved, worsened, or stayed the same in terms of biodiversity.
Your consultant BNG surveyor can help you with the above (including guidance on landscaping to plant wildflower meadows, hedgerows, trees, etc.).
Looking for a Chartered Surveyor? If you are buying a property, contact us for a building survey. Our panel of CIOB, RPSA and RICS surveyors will help you with the Level 2 or Level 3 property survey you need in Notting Hill. We can also assist you in Red Book Valuations, Party Wall Awards and other services. Reach out to us today for building surveyors, valuers and party wall surveyors in London!
