Frequently asked questions

We own freehold land, create and register habitat, and supply the mitigation developers cannot deliver on site: biodiversity units, nutrient credits and protected species habitat. We also manage habitat on land developers keep. We are the second-largest private supplier of biodiversity units in England.

Housebuilders and commercial developers, housing associations, planning and ecology consultants, and infrastructure promoters. We supply government departments, water companies and technology companies, as well as regional housebuilders discharging a single condition.

More than 25 projects across England, with more added all the time, covering seventy-nine national character areas, with bespoke mitigation created along the route of linear schemes anywhere in the UK. Find units near a site.

A statutory requirement, mandatory in England since February 2024, that most new development delivers a measurable ten per cent improvement in biodiversity against the pre-development baseline. Where that cannot be achieved on site, developers buy off-site units from a registered habitat bank.

All our units are on Natural England’s statutory register. On allocation you receive an allocation certificate, the metric output, the legal agreement securing the site and the registration confirmation: the pack your authority needs to discharge the condition. We liaise with the authority directly.

The statutory metric applies a multiplier based on how far the bank is from your development. Units in the same or a neighbouring area carry no penalty; more distant ones are worth less. Our sites are positioned to serve high-demand authorities without a significant penalty. Send a postcode and we will confirm the zone the same day.

Low to very high distinctiveness, including lowland meadow, calcareous grassland, wet grassland, rush pasture, fen and reedbed, scrub mosaic and Open Mosaic Habitat on Previously Developed Land, plus hedgerow and watercourse units. Availability varies by site; see the site pages.

In nutrient-sensitive catchments, including the Solent, Chichester Harbour, the Somerset Levels and the River Wye, Natural England advice means new overnight accommodation must not increase nutrient load to protected habitat. If your site drains to one of these catchments you will need to show neutrality before permission is granted.

We calculate your phosphorus and nitrogen budget using Natural England’s calculator, match it to credits from our wetland and land use change schemes in the same catchment, and execute the credit agreement. We handle the Natural England liaison and supply the pack for the appropriate assessment.

No. Catchment matching and an indicative budget are part of the enquiry. Send the planning reference and the Natural England wording and we will come back within a day.

European protected species and Section 41 priority species, including hazel dormouse, great crested newt, Brent goose, reptiles and rare invertebrates. Some of our sites supply both biodiversity units and a receptor site from the same land.

A European protected species licence typically takes four to eight weeks once the ecological evidence is in place. We run receptor habitat design in parallel with your other consenting work so it does not sit on the critical path.

The statutory minimum management period is thirty years. We add a restriction to our agreements protecting every site for nature in perpetuity, beyond that term, so there is no cliff edge when the thirty years end.

The endowment that funds long-term management is set aside at allocation and held independently of us. Every site is secured by a conservation covenant or planning obligation, with an independent Responsible Body or the local authority able to step in, access the endowment and take control of the site.

We own the freehold behind every obligation. There is no landlord and no lease to expire.

The team that manages the habitat is separate from the team that verifies it. Condition surveys are carried out by independent ecologists each year and submitted to the Responsible Body, and are available to the authority.

Within a day, and the same day for straightforward requests. Send the metric and the site postcode and we will come back with a price and availability, or tell you if we cannot help.

Yes. The metric and the site postcode are all we need to price a scheme. We only need the planning reference later, when we allocate units to your consent.

An allocation certificate, the signed legal agreement, the metric output, a summary of the management and monitoring plan, and the registration confirmation: everything needed for the discharge application.

Yes. Where the habitat is on land you keep, we take on the management obligation for the full agreed period for a fixed fee. See onsite management.

Yes. Biodiversity, nutrient and water neutrality, protected species, Habitat Regulations compensation, SANG and carbon, from one counterparty under one contract. See one contract, every obligation.

Once a promoter’s name is attached to a land enquiry the price rises. We acquire mitigation land in our own name, using our own capital, before your scheme is public, and you benefit from the lower cost whether you keep the asset or transfer the obligation to us.

Secured supply, where today’s price is fixed for the planning journey and timing and quantum flex as the scheme changes; land acquisition and delivery at cost plus a fixed margin, with the asset on your balance sheet; and onsite management of land you keep. NSIPs and major infrastructure sets out each.