The Environmental Improvement Plan published earlier this year reiterated the government's intention for the mandatory biodiversity net gain requirements secured by the Environment Act 2021 to take effect in November 2023.
However, DEFRA has now confirmed that smaller sites will be subject to a 'phased introduction' with April 2024 being the revised target date. For the purpose of this revised timeframe, small sites are defined as follows:
- Residential: provide less than ten homes on a site smaller than one hectare, or where the number of dwellings provided is not known, less than 0.5 hectares.
- Non-residential: less than 1,000 square metres of proposed floor space or sites that are smaller than one hectare.
This change in approach for small sites aligns with the government's response to the public consultation on the new mandatory regime, acknowledging that many of the responses indicated concerns around the burden on local authorities and associated delays to the progression of planning applications.
For all other sites November 2023 remains the target date. For development sites with planning applications in the pipeline, it will be necessary to consider the biodiversity net gain requirements now to avoid delays post-application submission.
To lessen initial burdens and allow a longer period for developers and local planning authorities to adapt and prepare for the high volume for minor applications, we will extend the transition period for small sites until April 2024.
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