UK rolls back nature protections to boost housing

The government announced on Tuesday that more housing developments in England will be exempt from rules requiring builders to improve wildlife habitats, a move officials say is intended to accelerate housing delivery. The revisions, part of a broader overhaul of planning rules, expand the scope of exemptions from Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), the policy that requires new developments to compensate for nature loss by delivering gains elsewhere.

Under the updated policy, developments of under 2,000 square meters would be exempt from BNG requirements, a change the government says will affect about 12,500 homes a year. The government argues the adjustment is needed to help meet its target of building 1.5 million new homes during this Parliament while still pursuing other planning reforms. Alongside these changes, ministers unveiled a measure to give a default yes to planning applications near railway stations, including on green belt land, and to require new builds to include nature-friendly features such as swift bricks to support wildlife.

BNG has been in place for less than two years, and supporters say it was meant to ensure development delivers measurable ecological gains. Critics, however, warn that weakening the policy risks stalling nature recovery and emboldening builders to push ahead without adequate habitat protections. Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said the revisions risk hollowing out one of the most important nature protection policies in a generation. "It's good that exemptions are narrower than originally proposed, but this is still damage limitation, not positive leadership for nature," he said.

Industry groups have also voiced concern. Rico Wojtulewicz, senior adviser on policy and regulation at the National Federation of Builders, said the policy has made building "harder, more expensive and more complicated," which could affect development viability, especially for smaller projects. The changes come as part of a broader push to simplify planning rules and speed decisions, a stance echoed by government officials who argue a robust housing supply is essential to the economy and to addressing a housing crisis described by some ministers as an emergency in parts of Britain.

Craig Bennett, chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts, commented to the BBC in a contemporaneous interview that the government appears to be pitting development against nature. He said the British public wants development and nature protection to coexist and accused the government of trying to pit them against each other. "The British people want to see development for the economy and for nature at the same time and yet this government seems intent on pitching them as one against the other," he told BBC News.

Officials emphasized that the policy changes are not final and will be subject to consultation. The government said it will also consider expanding exemptions on brownfield sites of up to 25,000 square meters in size and will introduce measures to make it easier, quicker, and cheaper for medium-sized developments to deliver off-site nature improvements. A spokesman argued that the reforms will support housing supply while still pursuing Net Gain objectives in the longer term and through targeted, site-specific approaches.

Environment and housing advocates alike will be watching closely how the revised framework is implemented at planning authorities and how developers respond to the new thresholds. The debate highlights the ongoing tension between accelerating housing delivery and maintaining incentives for developers to enhance biodiversity, a balance central to the government’s broader planning policy agenda.