Biodiversity Net Gain: balancing regulation, resources, and opportunity

The world of biodiversity net gain (BNG) is rapidly evolving, presenting both challenges and opportunities for developers, consultants, and local authorities.

In a recent roundtable discussion hosted and sponsored by prop-tech leaders Searchland in London, industry experts from across the sector came together to share their experiences, concerns, and visions for the future of BNG.

One of the key themes that emerged was the need for greater transparency and regulation in the BNG unit market.

As Mark Russell, a natural capital consultant for Carter Jonas explained: “The whole concern is how the money is going to be used and controlled and protected so that it is there in 30 years and still does what needs to be done.”

This sentiment was echoed by Richard Young, the technical director for Sovereign Housing Group, which provides more than 84,000 homes and investments in communities across the South of England.

Young expressed concerns about the complexity and lack of direct oversight in the management of off-site BNG provisions. He said: “My concerns might be completely unfounded, but I can’t fully embrace the idea yet. It’s those degrees of separation that worry me. There’s no immediate planning, and when you look 10 years down the track, the involvement becomes so indirect it feels like six degrees of separation.”

Cathy Myatt, head of ESG at Chancerygate, a multi-let industrial urban logistics company emphasised the challenge of accurately estimating long-term maintenance costs for BNG. She said: “We’re looking 30 years into the future, how can we predict what the costs of maintenance will be over such a long period?

“The initial pricing can vary significantly, especially depending on how rent is paid.”

Challenges faced by local authorities

The participants highlighted significant challenges faced by local authorities in implementing BNG. Ferdy Cleare, a senior sustainability consultant at RLB, explained that many councils struggle with limited resources and overburdened ecology teams.

He said: “Many councils have very small or part-time ecology teams that are already stretched thin. This prevents them from focusing on strategic integration of BNG, leaving them stuck in a cycle of application reviews without the capacity to consider long-term goals.”

In response, some participants suggested outsourcing BNG assessments to third-party experts. Mark Russell noted: “I’m surprised more councils haven’t outsourced tasks like verifying BNG calculations. Some councils are already using third-party assessments, which seems reasonable given their resource constraints.”

Leonie Oliva, a partner at Gerald Eve shared her experience with inconsistent local authority approaches. She warned: “We’ve faced challenges from local authorities questioning ESG-based agreements or classifications late in the process, which can undermine calculations entirely.

“On urban sites, we’ve also seen pushback against practical proposals, like creating species-rich grasslands in public spaces. In one case, for a university planning application, the open space was deemed too heavily used for such measures to be feasible”.

Education, community engagement, and urban design opportunities

Oliva also emphasised the importance of youth engagement, sharing her success in using BNG to involve young people: “Youth engagement can be challenging, but BNG offers a great way to connect with them. Many young people are passionate about sustainability and the environment, and we’ve used BNG projects to foster meaningful engagement.”

Hugh Gibbs, co-founder of Searchland, highlighted how BNG can inspire innovation in urban design: “BNG represents the pinnacle of urban design by integrating the environment and people into cohesive, sustainable spaces.”

Richard Young emphasised BNG’s potential to create jobs in the green economy: “The opportunity to create jobs around BNG is enormous. It connects directly to social value, apprenticeships, and all the great work developers are already doing. It’s an exciting stream for the green economy.”

Integrating BNG into development plans

Tim Hoyland, environment manager at Related Argent shared his approach to integrating BNG into master plans. He highlighted the importance of collaboration and education: “We involve ecologists, landscape architects, and architects early in the design process to ensure the development meets ecological requirements. We’ve also developed key habitat guides to help architects translate ecological needs, like preserving modified grasslands, into practical designs”.

However, Leonie Oliva noted difficulties in achieving high species richness in landscaping schemes: “Formal landscaping schemes often score poorly on biodiversity metrics because they prioritise aesthetics over native species, which the metrics are designed for”.

Cathy Myatt from Chancerygate raised concerns about conflicts between urban greening and BNG requirements: “We’ve encountered conflicts between urban greening factors and biodiversity net gain on some sites. In these cases, BNG often gets deprioritised because it can be addressed off-site, whereas urban greening must be implemented locally”.

Looking ahead: BNG’s potential

Despite the challenges, participants expressed cautious optimism about BNG’s potential to drive positive change. Mark Russell said: “BNG is opening up a new marketplace, not just for addressing impacts on-site but for creating opportunities to do good environmentally on a broader scale. This adds measurable value.”