Today, the UK Labour government has put forward its plans to streamline small site planning processes in an effort to ‘modernise’ planning committees and support SME housebuilders.

New home completion saw a drop last year, with 2024 going on record as a new seven-year low for new home delivery.

The government hopes that by introducing new reforms, regulations and financial support, smaller housebuilders will benefit.

Included in today’s announcement was a proposed ease up of biodiversity net gain (BNG) rules for small sites (up to nine homes).

Under this new proposal, decisions will be undertaken by specialised planning officers, instead of planning committees.

Back in February Luke Mills, director of The Landscape Service, shared his concerns that BNG was creating a “huge delay” in the planning process due to a lack of “formal education” in the decision hierarchy.

This adjustment in decision responsibility intends to bypass potential stalemates, with an intended goal of streamlining planning and getting nature into builds quicker.

A newly announced ‘medium site’ category, made up of developments between 10 – 49 homes, is also set to be exempted from the Building Safety Levy, and will have a simplified set of BNG rules, which the government says will “make it easier to deliver biodiverse habitats” across these sites.

Ecologist Peter Massini also noted back in February that BNG leaves little “wiggle room”, which can lead to a “disconnect” between the legislation and other policies.

Adding that the ability to negotiate trade offs would help to ensure a better scheme overall.

It was also announced that the government will be making a further £10m available this financial year to support local planning authorities implement BNG.

And while these new proposals put forward by the government are intended to remove potential barriers in both house building and BNG, The Wildlife Trusts says this is “another appalling example of the government breaking its promise to put nature at the heart of house building.”

Stating that these changes to the legislation “penalise” developers that “embraced [BNG] early on and are showing how well it can be done.”

The full list of proposals announced today can be found at gov.uk/government/news/government-backs-sme-builders-to-get-britain-building.

Principal advisor – net gain at Natural England, Nick White will be sharing his insights and an update on BNG at Pro Landscaper’s Landscaping Leadership Form on 26 June in London. He will be delving into if the legislation has bolstered collaboration efforts in the context of landscaping and maintenance considerations being taken into account earlier on in a project. For more information visit prolandscapermagazine.com/product/landscaping-leadership-forum-2025/.