Government publishes new announcements on BNG
Defra has published the Government responses to the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) consultations on minor, medium and brownfield development. The two consultations were conducting in May-July 2025.
For minor and medium sites, the Government intends to introduce a new 0.2ha threshold for exempting development from BNG. Government hopes to be able to introduce this in the summer, but is dependent on finding Parliamentary time to legislate for this.
On BNG for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), the news here is that the introduction of BNG for NSIPs has been pushed from May to November this year in order to give everyone involved time to prepare adequately.
And lastly, there is also a consultation on potentially excluding BNG from housebuilding on brownfield sites. Brownfield sites often have significant biodiversity value and CIEEM will be responding. The consultation closes on 10 June 2026.