Guidance

Register a biodiversity gain site

Find out what to do and how much it costs to register a biodiversity gain site.

Applies to England

Before you apply

You’ll need:

Registration fees

It costs £639 to register a biodiversity gain site. You must pay within 28 days of submitting your application.

What happens after you apply

We will let you know within 6 weeks if:

  • we need more information from you
  • your application to register your biodiversity gain site has been accepted or rejected

If we accept your application, you will get an email with a gain site reference number. This is unique to your biodiversity gain site.

If we reject your application, we will let you know why.  

If you also want to record allocation of off-site gains to a development

You can apply to register a biodiversity site and allocate to a development at the same time.

Start now

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.

Saving your progress

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

Continue with a saved 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 for more information on withdrawals, refunds and how we approve or reject applications.

Contact us if you need help 

Telephone: 0300 060 3900

Opening times:

  • March to September – Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm
  • October to February – Monday to Friday, 10am to 3pm

Closed on public holidays.

Find out about call charges.

Email: biodiversitynetgainenquiries@naturalengland.org.uk

We aim to reply within 10 working days.

Updates to this page

Published 12 February 2024
Last updated 26 April 2024 + show all updates
  1. Updated information on signing into this service to clarify that you should use your own email address to set up Government Gateway and Defra 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.

  2. Opening times to helpline has changed to Monday to Friday, 10am to 3pm during October and February.

  3. First published.

Sign up for emails or print this page