BNG a challenge for SMEs as stretched LPAs struggle – HBF

Ninety eight percent of SME housebuilders find biodiversity net gain (BNG) a challenge, with the Home Builders Federation urging for the sufficient staffing of local authority planning departments (LPAs) to address the issues. A lack of capacity in LPAs is the top reason for BNG-related delays, according to HBF research.

HBF’s report, Biodiversity Net Gain: One year on, based on a survey of housebuilders and a Freedom of Information (FoI) request of local authorities, finds that 94% of respondents reported delays in processing planning applications due to BNG requirements.

And 90% have experienced delays to their schemes, “specifically due to insufficient BNG expertise or resources within local authorities”.

The report marks 12 months since mandatory BNG became a legal requirement for small sites. It became applicable to larger sites on February 12 2024.

Under the legislation as part of the Environment Act 2021, housebuilders must achieve at least a 10% net gain in biodiversity.

HBF said that SMEs with their smaller sites were often unable to accommodate BNG within their schemes, so were reliant on purchasing offsite BNG units to meet the legislation.

But it noted that one year after BNG …