Novarly ParcelBNG check

Is your site exempt from biodiversity net gain?

From 2026-08-06, an England planning application on a red line of 0.2 hectares (2,000 m²) or below is exempt from mandatory BNG — unless on-site priority habitat is impacted. Both limbs are checkable, so we check both. Free, no account.

What we check

The area limb
Your red-line area against the 0.2 hectare threshold, in hectares, m² or acres — the unit conversion is where this most often goes wrong.
The habitat limb
Natural England's Priority Habitat Inventory at your site location, naming whatever is mapped there.
The date
Whether 2026-08-06 has arrived for the date you would apply, because the exemption does not exist before it.

What a clear result does not mean

The Priority Habitat Inventory is indicative mapping, not a survey, and we test a single point rather than your whole red line — so it can tell you habitat is mapped, but it can never prove none is there. The statutory test is also about habitat being negatively impacted, not merely present. An ecologist settles it; your local planning authority validates the application.

What is the 0.2 hectare BNG exemption?

From 2026-08-06, a planning application in England whose red-line site area is 0.2 hectares (2,000 m²) or below is exempt from mandatory biodiversity net gain. The exemption does not apply where on-site priority habitat is negatively impacted. A temporary-development exemption, for land reinstated within five years, starts on the same date and carries the same habitat condition.

Does it apply to an application I make today?

No. The exemption takes effect on 2026-08-06, and the date the application is made is what decides which rules apply. Before then the relevant route is the existing de minimis test: a development impacting less than 25 m² of on-site habitat, or less than 5 m of linear habitat such as hedgerow. If your timing is flexible, that date is worth knowing about.

What counts as priority habitat?

Habitats of principal importance for conserving biodiversity under section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 — Natural England maps 27 terrestrial and freshwater types in its Priority Habitat Inventory, including deciduous woodland, lowland meadow, heathland, and traditional orchard. We query that inventory at your site location and tell you what is mapped there.

If no priority habitat is mapped, am I definitely exempt?

No, and we are careful not to say so. The Priority Habitat Inventory is indicative mapping rather than a survey, it is updated twice a year, and we test a single point rather than your whole red-line boundary — habitat can exist on your site without appearing in it. Equally, the statutory test is whether priority habitat is negatively impacted, not merely whether it is present, so mapped habitat you leave untouched may still leave the exemption available. An ecologist is who settles this, and your local planning authority validates the application.

What other BNG exemptions are there?

Householder applications — extensions, loft conversions, conservatories — are exempt regardless of area. Development whose sole purpose is to create an off-site biodiversity gain is exempt. High Speed 2 is exempt by statute. Self-build and custom build of no more than 9 dwellings on a site of 0.5 hectares or less is exempt, but only for applications made before 2026-08-06.

Screening of public data, not planning or legal advice, and not a substitute for an ecological assessment. Sources: gov.uk guidance on biodiversity net gain exempt developments; Natural England Priority Habitat Inventory (England), Open Government Licence. England only — BNG is an England requirement and the inventory covers England.

Novarly Parcel · official public data, read properly · parcel.novarly.com

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