Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it remains the Government's position that biodiversity net gain applies to most development.

Defra have published an impact assessment alongside regulations, implementing changes to biodiversity net gain for smaller developments. This shows around 80% of planning applications are already exempt from BNG under existing exemptions, such as for householder development, which are having little of no impact on biodiversity. We expect that the new exemption for sites of 0.2 hectares or less will exempt around an additional 51% of residential planning applications that are currently eligible for biodiversity net gain.

The consultation on a potential additional targeted exemption for residential brownfield development closed on 10 June 2026. All responses and evidence submissions are being analysed and the Government will respond to the consultation in due course.