Record allocation of off-site biodiversity gains to a development
Source: gov.uk (2025-06-26)

Find out what to do and how much it costs to record allocation of off-site biodiversity gains to a development.

You can apply to record allocation of off-site biodiversity gains to a development if you’re:
- a landowner or leaseholder of the gain site you’re allocating from
- another person (for example, a developer or ecologist) who is not the landowner or leaseholder of the gain site
- an agent acting on behalf of the applicant (a landowner, leaseholder or another person)
Before you apply

If you’re an agent acting on behalf of the applicant

You must be authorised by the applicant which is either, the landowner, leaseholder or another person, to record allocation of off-site biodiversity gains to a development on their behalf.

If you are an employee or a representative of an organisation, you do not need to complete an authorise an agent form.

If you are an agent acting on behalf of another person who is not the landowner or leaseholder of the gain site, you will need to confirm you have the consent of all landowners or leaseholders to record the allocation.

How to record allocation of off-site biodiversity gains to a development

You will need to use the service to record the allocation. This information will be emailed to Natural England to be processed.

When we email you back, we will ask you to send us your statutory (official) biodiversity metric calculation and the planning application decision notice for the development project from the local planning authority. We will also give you details on how and when to pay the application fee. Once we receive your full application, we will send you an email with confirmation.

You will need to pay the £45 application fee within 28 days of sending us your statutory (official) biodiversity metric calculation. Once we receive your payment, we will send you a payment confirmation email.

We will check your application. We will let you know if we need more information from you or if you have been accepted or rejected.

We will email you with a decision on your application.

Withdrawals and refunds

Once we have made a decision on your application you cannot withdraw it. Refunds will not be given.

You can read the terms and conditions (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/biodiversity-gain-sites-register-terms-and-conditions) for more information on withdrawals, refunds and how we approve or reject applications.

Saving your progress

You can save your application and come back to it at any time.

Continue with a saved application (https://manage-biodiversity-gains.defra.gov.uk/developer/development-projects)

Start (https://manage-biodiversity-gains.defra.gov.uk/)

Signing into this service

You’ll need a Government Gateway account and a Defra account to sign into this service.

If you do not already have these accounts or wish to create new ones, you can set these up when you use this service.

You should use your own email address for these accounts, so we can contact you about your application. It can be either your personal email or your work email, if you are applying for an organisation.

Get help with your application

Email: xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)We aim to reply within 10 working days.

Give feedback on this guidance by completing a short survey (https://defragroup.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eboEHE0vrdTbeia).