UK Homes Grow Nature: Biodiversity Net Gain Expands to Apartments

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In a significant recent development in the built environment, the Future Homes Hub has extended its Homes for Nature commitment to include apartment developments, broadening efforts to enhance biodiversity across the UK housing sector. This initiative, which initially focused on standalone homes, now provides developers with tailored guidance for integrating nature‑positive features into high‑rise residential schemes. The updated guidance includes practical measures such as universally safe nest bricks, hedgehog highways, pollinator‑friendly planting, and sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), aimed at supporting declining urban wildlife and encouraging nature recovery within dense housing forms.

The Homes for Nature initiative, formed in collaboration with the RSPB, Action for Swifts, and Hedgehog Street, sets a voluntary standard that goes beyond mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) regulations. Developers sign up to install at least one bird nesting brick or box per new home, include hedgehog highways, and deliberately incorporate additional nature‑supporting measures such as bat roosts, insect bricks, hibernacula, and pollinator landscapes. Since its launch in September 2024, the initiative has gained the backing of 28 homebuilders, collectively responsible for over 100,000 new homes annually. This equates to a projected minimum of 300,000 nesting bricks and boxes installed over the programme’s duration through to 2030.

Importantly, Homes for Nature also has emerging support within national planning policy. The updated Planning Policy Guidance now explicitly encourages proposals to include biodiversity enhancements such as swift bricks, bat boxes, and hedgehog highways, signaling increasing integration between voluntary frameworks and statutory guidance.

Meanwhile, the Biodiversity Net Gain Implementation Board, launched by the Future Homes Hub in February 2025, has reached its one‑year milestone. Established to foster cross‑sector collaboration, the Board helps coordinate industry and government efforts to implement BNG at scale. Celebrating one year of progress, the Board convened on 22 October 2025 to review achievements, challenges, and future priorities. Ministers reaffirmed their intent to align BNG consultation responses with updates to the National Planning Policy Framework and related guidance, while confirming no immediate policy changes requiring secondary legislation are planned. Developers are therefore advised to continue operating under the current regulatory framework.

Earlier in 2025, the Board held a quarterly meeting to identify priority actions and foster alignment between BNG and emerging nature recovery strategies such as Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS), planning policies, and land‑use frameworks. The meeting emphasised the need to address sequencing challenges between new planning layers, improve communication across the sector, and explore off‑site biodiversity markets, including working group formation and transparency in baseline surveys.

Another recent contribution to the BNG ecosystem is the launch of a simplified Good Practice Guide by the Future Homes Hub in June 2025. Aimed at providing clarity and practical support for on‑site BNG delivery, the guide offers a checklist and real‑world examples from practitioners, helping to demystify technical requirements and encourage smooth implementation in the new homes sector.

What this means:
These developments signal a maturing of biodiversity integration in UK housing policy. The Homes for Nature expansion to apartments breaks new ground by bringing nature‑enhancing measures into high‑density developments, an area often overlooked despite its urban ecological importance. Meanwhile, the BNG Implementation Board’s one‑year reflection, and the availability of the Good Practice Guide, demonstrate both government and industry commitment to embedding biodiversity in planning processes. However, complications remain: developers await clarity on evolving nature recovery frameworks, while aligning multiple planning layers continues to challenge implementation.

The key takeaway is that biodiversity enhancement is no longer an optional extra—it’s integral to sustainable housing design. As guidance becomes more accessible and policy more aligned, these steps pave the way for more consistent, nature‑rich new developments. This shift offers a framework for delivering low‑impact, ecologically beneficial homes—benefiting biodiversity and residents alike.

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