Biodiversity Net Gain Changes Take Effect Today – What You Need to Know

Today (6^th August 2026), several important changes to England’s mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements come into force.

The key changes impact smaller developments and those of a temporary nature.

Developments with a red-line boundary of 0.2 hectares or less are now exempt from mandatory BNG requirements, provided they do not impact priority habitat. This replaces the previous exemption for de-minimus sites, self-build and custom-build developments.

There is a further exemption for land which is to be reinstated within a period of 5 years or less (again unless onsite priority habitat is negatively impacted). This is the Temporary Development Exemption.

More detail is available on the GOV.UK website but please contact a member of the team if you would like to discuss how these changes might impact your business.