The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced in today's Budget that the UK Government will remove Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements from developments on brownfield sites. This decision risks disproportionately reducing opportunities to bring nature back into urban communities, limiting access to the green spaces and wildlife that supports people's health and wellbeing, and help protect communities from the impact of climate change. 

Introduced in 2024, BNG was set up to ensure that developers avoid harm to important wildlife habitats, make up for unavoidable losses, and go further by giving back to nature, creating new habitats and wild spaces in which people and wildlife can thrive. Done well, it can protect wildlife and support nature recovery, yet today’s announcement further strips the ambition from this once promising policy. 

Dom Higgins, head of health and education at The Wildlife Trusts, says: 

"Exempting brownfield developments from Biodiversity Net Gain reduces access to nature in the communities that need it the most and will remove one of the biggest opportunities to bring trees, ponds, wildlife and parks back into towns and cities. 

"Access to nature should not be a luxury. We know that designing housing and infrastructure with trees, parks and space for nature is proven to improve mental and physical health and boost people’s pride in their communities. These habitats also provide vital shade and cooling effects during heatwaves, along with helping to reduce the risk of flooding.  

“For a Budget that promised ‘breathing space’, this decision risks undermining the very thing that could give millions of people living in urban areas more space to breathe."