Nature market · England
Biodiversity Net Gain - selling off-site biodiversity units
Create or improve habitat on your land and sell the 'biodiversity units' to developers who must make up for habitat lost.
- From
- Natural England (register) / local planning authorities
- How much
- No set price - you agree it with buyers. Registration fee £639 per gain site.
- Who can apply
- Landowners and land managers in England.
What you’ll need
- Biodiversity metric assessment by an ecologist
- Legal agreement (Section 106 or conservation covenant) securing habitat for at least 30 years
- Screening decision check
- Natural England consent if on a protected site
How to apply
- Work out units and habitats
- Price units
- Sign legal agreement
- Find a buyer
- Register the gain site with Natural England (£639)
- Record the allocation to each development
- Manage habitat for 30+ years
No guarantee of a buyer; the register is not a marketplace. Can sometimes be combined with other environmental payments - see 'Combining environmental payments' guidance.
Similar schemes
- Environment Bank habitat banks OpenEnvironment Bank LtdLeases (or buys) your land for at least 30 years to create a habitat bank, pays you annually and sells the biodiversity units to developers itself.
- Stour Environmental Credits OpenStour Environmental Credits Ltd (Kent councils)Sells nutrient credits to developers in the Stour catchment and pays landowners to carry out mitigation (e.g. wetlands, stream enhancement) from the proceeds.
- EnTrade nature markets (nutrient, biodiversity, carbon) Open all yearEnTrade (Wessex Water spin-out; JV with Arup from 2026)Runs auction 'market rounds' where farmers offer projects such as wetlands, woodland, grassland or cover crops and developers or water companies bid to buy the resulting credits.
- Nattergal wildland habitat banks Open all yearNattergal LtdCreates large rewilding sites and sells biodiversity net gain units from them; partners with estates (e.g. Herstmonceux Castle Estate) to restore land and generate nature income.
- Natural England Nutrient Mitigation Scheme Open all yearNatural EnglandNatural England creates wetlands and other habitat to offset nutrient pollution, selling credits to developers; it works with landowners to find sites.
- Norfolk Environmental Credits Open all yearNorfolk Environmental Credits Ltd (Norfolk councils)Council-backed company that buys or creates nutrient mitigation (wetlands, land-use change) and sells credits to developers; landowners can put forward sites.
Checked against the official pages on 29 October 2026. Sources: 1, 2. Always read the official page before you apply.