News Mastering BNG: How Landscape-Led Design Unlocks Delivery

Mastering BNG: How an Early Landscape Led Approach Can Help Unlock Viability and Delivery for Developers

Features, News

August 04, 2026

The introduction of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) in February 2024 represented one of the most significant shifts in the UK planning system in a generation. 

For housing developers and housebuilders, the new requirement presented a new layer of complexity, cost, and risk to scheme viability

For landscape architects and ecologists, we suddenly became visible and have been on the frontline of the transition. We have seen first-hand where the system thrives, where it  bottlenecks and most importantly how strategic and early-stage design can prevent BNG from becoming a costly barrier to development.

With major government reforms on the horizon for 2026, the BNG landscape is about to shift again. Here is our perspective on the progress of BNG to date, what the upcoming legislative updates mean for the industry and how collaborative design can protect your investments for the long term.

 

 

BNG Progress to Date: Lessons from the Frontline

For many housebuilders, the first year of mandatory BNG has been a steep learning curve. The key to success and safeguarding scheme viability has boiled down to one critical factor: early coordination.

 

What is Working: The Impact of Landscape-Led Design

The most successful schemes we have worked on since BNG became mandatory are those that embrace nature-led design from the very beginning.By prioritising habitat retention and integrating nature-based solutions into the early site layout, we can maximise biodiversity within the footprint of the development. 

The key to this is close collaboration from the outset of the project between the landscape architect and the ecologist. As landscape architects, we work hand-in-hand with ecologists at the feasibility stage to ensure baseline habitats are identified, maintained and woven into the emerging masterplan layout. This early intervention is vital to ensure clients understand the cost implications before committing to a site layout.

 

What is Not Working: The Friction Points We Are Solving

The process has not been without its teething problems. We are seeing several consistent points that impact developer viability:

  • The Rigidity of Habitat Creation: The rigid nature of the statutory metric can sometimes clash with a cohesive, long-term holistic landscape strategy, restricting creative design solutions that might actually offer better amenity value for people. Often, it is more focussed on number crunching than place shaping. 
  • The Conflict with Arboriculture: A frequent issue is the misalignment between arboricultural assessments and the BNG metric. An arborist may recommend removing a low-quality, diseased, or poorly located tree to allow for a better site layout with high-quality replacement planting. However, the BNG metric may assign a high baseline habitat value to that same tree. Compounding the loss of this single tree within the metric can create a sudden deficit, requiring expensive off-site compensation.
  • Financial and Viability Burdens: For many developers, the cost of securing off-site units or adjusting layouts to accommodate low-value baseline habitats is severely impacting scheme viability.

 

 

Case Study: Doubling the Standard at Paramount Place, Tunbridge Wells

Our work with Retirement Villages Group (RVG) on Paramount Place - an integrated retirement community in the heart of Tunbridge Wells, demonstrates how these challenges can be overcome through collaborative design. 

As one of our very first schemes subject to BNG, we acted as a vital bridge between the ecologist and the wider design team. By engaging early in the design process, we identified opportunities to integrate habitats at multiple levels, including intensive ground-level planting and biodiverse green roofs. 

By designing site-appropriate planting strategies early in the process, we ensured these habitats would be resilient for the long term. This proactive collaboration not only smoothed the planning path but ultimately secured a net gain of over 20% doubling the statutory 10% requirement, without compromising the density or commercial viability of the retirement community. Today, as the project progresses through construction, we continue to work alongside the client to ensure these designs are successfully realised on-site.

 

 

Looking Ahead: The 2026 Reforms A Welcome Shift Towards Flexibility

In response to industry feedback, the government has announced forthcoming revisions to Biodiversity Net Gain for projects requiring planning permission under the Town and Country Planning Act, the first of which are to come in to force on the 6th August 2026.

These revisions are designed to simplify initial processes, while reducing the administrative burden on overstretched local planning  authorities and  enabling delivery for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and brownfield developers.

 

Key Forthcoming Updates Include:

  • New Small-Site Exemption: Developments of 0.2 hectares or less will be exempt, providing a massive boost to SME developers. However, some have raised the question as to why this threshold has not been aligned to the 0.5 hectare minor development threshold, to really assist in bringing sites forward and in line with Government policy. 
  • Removal of Self-Build Exemptions: Closing loopholes to ensure consistency across the board.
  • Temporary Planning Exemption: A new temporary development exemption, for land which is to be reinstated within a period of 5 years or less. 
  • Minor Development Hierarchy Alignment: Meaning that minor sites which aren’t exempt from BNG (e.g. over 0.2 hectares) can choose to go straight to offsite in the first instance. 
  • A New Digital Metric Tool: Replacing the current and technically complex excel-based statutory metric with an online, map-based tool. This should make the BNG calculations far more transparent and easier for project teams to navigate, while also simplifying  the design process and speeding up planning submissions.

 

How Do We See This Helping Developers and House Builders?

These changes represent a pragmatic step forward. By freeing up smaller sites, streamlining the planning process and introducing more flexible rules for minor developments, the government is aiming to accelerate housing delivery while maintaining commitment to nature-based solutions to development. 

 

 

BNG in the Long Term: Protecting Your 30-Year Investment

For developers, securing planning permission is only one step in the process. BNG mandates a 30-year legal commitment to maintain and monitor the created habitats. 

This introduces a long-term liability. If the habitats designed on paper fail to establish in reality, developers face significant legal and financial risks., local governments will also face the immense challenge of enforcing these 30-year covenants with limited resources.

 

Ensuring Design Becomes Reality

This is where our role becomes crucial during the construction and post-occupancy phases. To protect your initial investment, we ensure that what was promised in the planning stage is physically and robustly delivered on site.

Continuing our work at Paramount Place, we are actively managing this transition from the initial designs to the physical landscape. Our role includes:

  • Specifying and Sourcing: Visiting specialist tree nurseries to hand-select specimens that match the exact design criteria and are resilient to future climate conditions.
  • Site Supervision: Conducting regular site visits during construction to ensure planting is executed strictly to specification to ensure the approved habitats are established.
  • Landscape Management Plans: By working collaboratively with RVG, we established that the landscape management plan was cost-effective and can be easily executed in the long term.

By safeguarding the quality of the installation, we ensure the landscape establishes successfully, minimising the risk of habitat failure and protecting the initial investment of the developer in the long term. 

 

 

Summary: Designing for Success 

Biodiversity Net Gain does not have to be a barrier to development. The upcoming 2026 amendments will offer welcome flexibility, particularly for SME developers and smaller sites and keeps the focus on delivering high-quality and long-lasting ecological value at its core. As landscape architects, we must not view BNG as a regulatory hurdle, but as an opportunity to create better and more desirable places to live. By engaging with us early in the project viability and masterplanning phases, we can help you:

  1. Identify site constraints early, avoiding costly redesigns and metric deficits.
  2. Harmonise conflicts between tree retention, layout optimisation and BNG targets.
  3. Secure smooth planning approvals through robust and defensible landscape strategies.
  4. Protect long-term assets through rigorous on-site monitoring and construction oversight.

 

If you would like to understand how to navigate BNG on your next project, please get in touch with us and we would be happy to discuss.