More than 75% of non-householder planning applications have claimed exemptions from biodiversity net gain (BNG) requirements since the policy came into effect last year.
The new BNG rules, which came into force in February 2024 for major developments and April 2024 for small sites, were introduced to make developers mitigate environmental harm and habitat loss. It sets the principle that all developments must achieve a 10% net positive impact on biodiversity.
However, a study by TerraQuest, the provider of Planning Portal, reveals how the policy is panning out, a year into implementation. Its report, Biodiversity net gain: the story so far, shows the requirement that applies to most planning applications is not being consistently carried out, with some submissions claiming exemptions to avoid BNG requirements altogether.
There are eight exceptions from BNG. The report reveals that the most popular are self-build or custom developments and sites that do not impact a priority habitat – known as ‘de minimis’. Alongside this, retrospective applications are not required to prove BNGs.
In the period following the introduction of the policy, the number of applicants using the ‘de minimis’ exemption rose from 29% to 76% of the total of non-householder exemptions between August and December 2024. These statistics imply the removal of the ‘small site’ exemption in April 2024 may have contributed to an increased use of other exemptions.
TerraQuest chief executive Geoff Keal said: “Since the launch of the biodiversity net gain policy, there has been an ongoing industry discussion about its implementation. Our latest report adds to this debate, highlighting key trends in the data —including a higher-than-expected use of exemptions.”
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