19th February 2026
By Ben Christie, Head of Ecology and Biodiversity at the Land Trust
The UK faces an escalating requirement for new housing, with some of the worst housing provision rates in Europe. The Government’s ambition to build 1.5 million homes during this Parliament presents significant opportunities for both communities and the wider economy. However, I resolutely believe meeting this challenge and the expansion of built development must not come at the expense of the natural environment.
There is little doubt that the recent changes to environmental legislation through the Planning and Infrastructure Act have raised concerns among ecology and conservation professionals, with organisations such as CIEEM, the Woodland Trust, The Wildlife Trusts and the National Trust publishing views. While the Act seeks to accelerate infrastructure and housing delivery, there is a recognisable risk that environmental protections are more vulnerable.
The impact of mandatory BNG so far
Since becoming mandatory for most developments in 2024, Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) has been transformative. It embeds biodiversity considerations early in the planning process, prompting better site design, habitat-focused ecological assessment, and importantly, long-term thinking in land management.
Defra’s Nature Communications team published that BNG in England is preventing habitat loss equivalent to an estimated 6-10,000 hectares a year and that developers are progressively incorporating habitat enhancement within their developments, showcasing the value of design particularly working well for larger developments.
Mandatory BNG has also driven an increase in the ‘off-site’ habitat creation market, with a vast number of hectares already recorded on Natural England’s Biodiversity Gain Site Register. These results confirm that BNG is not a barrier to delivery, it is a mechanism for smarter, long-term planning that benefits people and wildlife.
The risks of watering down requirements
The Government’s recent decision to exclude sites under 0.2 hectares from mandatory BNG, though preferred to the previously speculated 0.5ha threshold, continues to pose a notable ecological risk.
Additional consultations are evaluating exemptions for brownfield sites up to 2.5 hectares. While expected to support SME developers, these changes could remove BNG from spaces where habitat protection and restoration is most needed.
Releasing mandatory protections is nothing short of a relapse in environmental policy. It risks subverting progress toward England’s 30by30 nature recovery targets, which depend on consistent ecological enhancement across landscape, not only on large development sites.
In these circumstances, maintaining robust mandatory BNG requirements is vital.
Concluding thoughts
To meet the ambitious mandatory targets set out by the current Government in housing and infrastructure while reversing nature’s decline, mandatory BNG is one of the most influential tools available. As a Responsible body and through our own implementation we have witnessed firsthand how BNG projects can support wildlife, restore habitats, and provide long-term environmental stewardship at scale.
This only works if the policy remains robust. Diluting down environmental protections now would be a step backwards, undermine market confidence, and weaken the very protections put in place to support nature recovery.
To build the homes and communities the country needs whilst also maintaining a thriving natural environment, new legislation needs to advocate for the principles at the heart of BNG, long-term thinking, ecological integrity, and nature-positive design.