UKGBC signs letter in support of the BNG requirements for small sites

BNG is simple in principle and powerful in practice: if you develop land, you must leave nature in a measurably better state than before. It is one of the most practical tools we have to tackle nature loss while enabling high-quality development. And it has been working. Local authorities have invested in skills. Developers have adapted. Consultants, contractors, ecologists and communities have created new local green spaces that reduce flooding, cut overheating risk and boost health and wellbeing.

Undoing this progress now by exempting all small sites would unravel the foundations of the UK’s emerging nature market, undermine local authorities, and erode public trust. Small sites aren’t a rounding error, but the backbone of our housing pipeline. They shape people’s daily experience of place. They provide the pocket parks, street trees and habitat corridors that stitch nature into the places we live. Removing BNG from these sites removes the market driver to protect and enhance the little bits of nature that matter most.

Industry knows this. That is why support for BNG is broad and growing. Morgan Taylor, Director of Nature at Greengage Environmental Ltd., sums up that “it makes good business sense to protect and restore our stock of natural capital. Fundamentally, BNG is a simple mechanism through which we can achieve this. Nature, however, is an easy scapegoat for past and current failings in our systems. Government is therefore at risk of condemning the wrong man by making unevidenced, knee jerk responses which wind back commitments.”

The economic case is equally strong. The Wildlife Trust found that a well-functioning BNG market could generate £250 million a year and support thousands of jobs. The Urban Land Institute has shown that homes with stronger biodiversity features attract higher values, as proof that nature is not a drag on growth but an engine of it. Meanwhile, investor demand for nature-positive portfolios is accelerating, with adoption of TNFD frameworks surging across the sector. Weakening BNG now jeopardises all of this: the investment pipeline, the new skills and jobs, the confidence that is essential for the UK to lead in nature markets rather than fall behind.

We recognise that implementation has been fast and that refinements are needed, particularly around brownfield sites and local delivery. But industry has been clear: improvements are already underway, informed by strong cross-sector collaboration. What we need from government is stability, not a sudden unravelling of policy that businesses have spent years preparing for.

The UK Green Building Council urges Ministers to rethink. Maintaining BNG for small sites is not red tape; it is the bare minimum needed to avoid leaving nature and communities worse off. Retreating now would embed the long-term costs of more flooding, poorer air quality, hotter urban areas, weakened local nature recovery, and forego the economic opportunity of a thriving nature market.

BNG is good for people, good for business and essential for the places we are building. The Government should strengthen it, not abandon it.

The letter can be read in full here.

CIC members contributed signatories to this letter through the CIC Climate Change Committee