If you own land in England, Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is no longer an abstract policy idea – it’s now baked into the planning system. Most major developments must deliver at least a 10% uplift in biodiversity to secure planning permission, with the same requirement applying to small sites. In practice, that means developers either have to:
- Deliver habitat improvements on-site,
- Buy off-site biodiversity units from landowners, or
- As a last resort, purchase statutory biodiversity credits from the government.
For landowners, that third option is the giveaway: if statutory credits are deliberately priced high, it signals that private landowners who can offer off-site units sit on a potentially very valuable asset
Intelligent Land’s Land Value Accelerator™ (LVA Method™) is designed to turn that policy reality into hard land value – often unlocking £1m+ in additional value within 24 hours in many cases.
What is Biodiversity Net Gain – in Practical Landowner Terms?
At its simplest, Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) means a development must leave biodiversity measurably better than before – usually a minimum 10% increase in biodiversity units calculated using a standard metric.
Key points that matter to landowners:
- BNG is now mandatory for most planning permissions in England.
- Habitat must be created or enhanced and maintained for at least 30 years. The landowner is legally responsible for that long-term management.
- Off-site BNG must be delivered on land registered as a biodiversity gain site, secured by a legal agreement (such as a Section 106 obligation or conservation covenant).
- Landowners can sell biodiversity units to developers through private agreements as part of this off-site market.
In other words, if you can create the “right” type of habitat, in the “right” location, with the “right” legal wrapper, you’ve effectively created a new product on your land: biodiversity units.
Why Biodiversity Net Gain Matters Specifically for Landowners
BNG changes the game in three big ways:
1. A new, policy-backed income stream
Developers must achieve 10% BNG. If they can’t do it all on-site, they have to go off-site. That creates sustained demand for registered gain sites and biodiversity units on private land.
2. Long-term, inflation-resilient contracts
BNG usually involves 30-year management agreements, often with index-linked payments, giving estates and farms a new, semi-infrastructure-style income line.
3. Capital value uplift
Land that is:
- Strategically located near growth areas,
- Registered as a biodiversity gain site, and
- Underpinned by robust legal agreements and proven income,
can justify a higher capital value than its pre-BNG agricultural or amenity use.
But – and this is where most landowners feel the friction – simply having land doesn’t guarantee value. The configuration of habitats, planning position, legal structure and market timing all determine whether your land becomes:
“Nice idea for nature” or “institutional-grade, bankable BNG asset.”
That’s exactly the gap the LVA Method™ is built to close.
Three Core Ways BNG Can Increase Land Value
1. Turning Marginal Land into a Biodiversity Gain Site
Many estates and farms have:
- Poorly performing pasture,
- Steep slopes, wet corners or awkward field edges,
- Low-grade land under legacy management.
Under BNG, those “problem” areas can become high-value habitat – species-rich grassland, wetland, woodland or mixed mosaics – capable of generating BNG units to sell into the development market.
Done well, this can significantly increase the earning power of that land compared with traditional agriculture, while also improving the overall environmental story of the estate.
2. De-risking Development on Your Own Land
If you’re both landowner and promoter/developer, BNG can be the difference between:
- A stalled or compromised planning permission, and
- A clean consent with a stronger Gross Development Value (GDV).
By planning BNG intelligently – deciding which habitats to create on-site vs off-site, and when – you can:
- Make your site more attractive to housebuilders and institutional partners.
- Avoid last-minute, expensive BNG “fixes”.
- Use off-site units on your wider landholding to support a more efficient site layout and higher density, which translates directly into land value.
3. Creating a BNG-Linked “Nature Portfolio”
Some landowners are already building BNG habitat banks – clustered habitat sites and rewilding projects that sell units to multiple developments over time.
Think of this as a nature infrastructure portfolio:
- Long-term contracted income (30 years+),
- Potential to stack with other markets over time (carbon, water, nutrient neutrality, etc., subject to rules),
- A compelling story for family offices, ESG-driven investors and lenders.
But the difference between a nice rewilding story and a serious balance sheet asset is in the numbers, the planning strategy and the way risk is managed.
That’s where Intelligent Land’s LVA Method™ comes in.
How the Land Value Accelerator™ (LVA Method™) Turns BNG into Hidden Millions
Intelligent Land unlocks hidden millions in land value by combining proprietary AI algorithms with 30 years of planning expertise. We don’t just advise; we accelerate outcomes.
For BNG, we apply the Land Value Accelerator™ in three steps:
1. Review Planning Permissions
We start by reviewing:
- Current planning status across your landholding.
- Local Plan and policy context for growth and BNG.
- Existing or draft planning permissions and Section 106 discussions.
- How BNG has been approached (or not) so far.
This isn’t a box-ticking exercise. We’re looking for:
- Undervalued BNG obligations (where you’re giving away value to the developer).
- Missed opportunities for off-site provision on your wider estate.
- Policy levers that could justify a more ambitious, value-optimising BNG strategy.
2. Undertake Research
Next, we dive into technical and commercial research, covering:
- Ecology and habitat baselines across your land.
- BNG metrics and potential uplift scenarios.
- Legal routes – Section 106, conservation covenants, ownership/option structures.
- Market intelligence on local and regional demand for BNG units and typical deal structures.
- Wider ESG and nature-market context (carbon, natural capital, nutrient markets, where relevant).
We then reframe your estate or landholding not as a static map of fields, but as a portfolio of potential BNG and development options.
3. Scenario Testing with AI
This is where the “black box” starts working for you.
Using our proprietary AI tools, we run thousands of scenarios, such as:
- Different mixes of on-site vs off-site BNG.
- Alternative habitat types and configurations.
- Phasing options (when units are created and sold).
- Different legal and commercial structures (long leases, joint ventures, forward-purchase, etc.).
- Combined strategies where BNG unlocks a more valuable planning consent on a development site you control.
For each scenario we look at:
- Net present value of BNG income.
- Impact on development land value.
- Risk profile and deliverability.
From this, we identify the optimum value outcome – often highlighting options that traditional consultancy, working linearly and manually, would simply never explore. In many cases, this reveals £1m+ in additional value within 24 hours of running the LVA Method™.
Land Value Accelerator™ – Unlocking Hidden Millions.
Black-Box Insights, White-Glove Results.
A Quick Example: From “Awkward Fields” to Seven-Figure BNG Asset
Imagine an estate on the edge of a growth corridor:
- 40 hectares of mixed-quality farmland.
- One parcel allocated for housing; others considered “unremarkable”.
Traditional approach:
- Promote the housing land.
- Use as much on-site green space as possible to tick the BNG box.
- Accept whatever’s left as the “cost of getting planning”.
LVA Method™ approach:
- We review the emerging masterplan and local BNG policy.
- We research ecological baselines across the wider landholding and local demand for BNG units.
- We test scenarios where:
- The housing site focuses on efficient, high-value layout with limited but high-quality on-site habitat.
- Adjacent low-yield fields are converted into a registered BNG habitat bank, selling units to both your own scheme and third-party developers.
Result:
- A more attractive, deliverable housing scheme.
- A 30-year income stream from the habitat bank.
- A significant capital uplift on land previously valued at low-grade agricultural rates.
That is the kind of “hidden millions” the Land Value Accelerator™ is designed to uncover.
Common BNG Pitfalls We Help Landowners Avoid
Left to drift, BNG can quietly destroy value. Typical pitfalls when selling land to developments, or for development include:
- Signing away BNG rights too early in promotion or option agreements.
- Locking land into sub-optimal habitats that underperform in the metric or are too costly to manage.
- Failing to register gain sites correctly, limiting future flexibility and resale value.
- Under-pricing units in early deals without understanding how statutory credit pricing and local demand will evolve.
Our role is to reframe BNG from “compliance problem” to “strategic asset class” – and then structure it so that auditors, lawyers, valuers and future buyers see the value clearly.
When Should Landowners Talk to Intelligent Land?
It’s worth speaking to us if:
- You own land near towns, growth corridors or major infrastructure.
- You’ve been approached by a habitat bank, rewilding operator or BNG broker.
- You’re promoting or considering promoting land through the planning system.
- You have marginal or underperforming land and want to understand its BNG potential.
- You simply want to know if BNG could be worth six or seven figures on your estate before you sign anything.
Next Steps: Turn Biodiversity Net Gain into Bankable Land Value
Biodiversity Net Gain for landowners is not a passing policy fad. It’s a structural shift in how development and nature interact – and it will reward those who move early, structure deals intelligently and treat habitat as a serious asset, not a side project.
If you’d like to:
- Understand the BNG potential of your land,
- Avoid signing away value in early-stage agreements, and
- Explore whether there are hidden millions in your estate or landholding,
then it’s time to put the Land Value Accelerator™ (LVA Method™) to work.
Unlock hidden millions today.
Talk to Intelligent Land (contact us here) about using the LVA Method™ to turn Biodiversity Net Gain from a planning obligation into a long-term, premium land value strategy.
