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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of biodiversity net gain on (a) housebuilding costs and (b) levels of development.

Mandatory biodiversity net gain establishes a consistent set of requirements which give developers clarity on how they can meet their net gain obligations and deliver developments which leave biodiversity in a better state.

The biodiversity net gain regulatory impact assessment determined that the additional costs of the policy would have a low impact on development viability.

As is the case with any new policy, we are collecting information and evidence about the implementation of mandatory biodiversity net gain. Government is committed to working closely with the housebuilding sector to make biodiversity net gain work effectively and implement solutions to unlock new homes without weakening environmental protections.