24/07/2026
We have been waiting and now have confirmation that the following changes relating to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) will come into effect on Thursday 6 August 2026:
* introduction of the new 0.2 hectare exemption, which means that the smallest developments will not be required to do mandatory BNG (unless onsite priority habitat is negatively impacted)
* introduction of a new temporary development exemption, for land which is to be reinstated within a period of 5 years or less (unless onsite priority habitat is negatively impacted)
* modification of the biodiversity gain hierarchy for minor development, meaning that minor sites which aren’t exempt from BNG (e.g. over 0.2 hectares) can choose to go straight to offsite in the first instance
* removal of the existing exemption for self and custom build development
These changes will make a huge difference to a lot of smaller developments, especially equestrian and agricultural developments and I currently have a list of applications that are ready to be submitted on the 6th August! If you were waiting for the changes to come into effect before submitting an application that has a site area of less than 0.2 ha (0.5 acre) e.g stables, barn, arena, then rejoice as you will no longer have to spend an extra few thousand pounds on legal fees and BNG credits!
We are pleased to announce that yesterday we published and laid before parliament regulations which set in motion changes to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) for projects requiring planning permission under the Town and Country Planning Act. Read this post to
