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Draft your reply to a client who asks whether biodiversity net gain applies to their planning application, for a site in England, from the official exemption wording
Since 6 August 2026, a planning application in England for a site of 0.2 hectares or below (measured inside the red line boundary) is exempt from mandatory BNG unless the development impacts an onsite priority habitat, and the new exemption does not apply to applications made before that date. That makes the first reply to a new enquiry depend on a few facts the client can give you. AI can lay those facts and the official sentences out in a clear, polite email. The call on whether BNG applies, and anything about priority habitat, stays with a named ecologist, and the planning authority assesses the application.
Time: One short sitting per enquiry, plus the named ecologist’s checkTool cost: you can start with a free AI tool
Steps
- Ask the client or agent for five facts and type them into your own note: the date the planning application was made or will be made; the site area inside the red line boundary, in hectares, copied from the red line plan (not an estimate); whether it is a householder application or a temporary development; whether the application is a variation of an earlier permission (a section 73 application); and whether any habitat survey already exists. Do not collect landowner names or the plan itself for the AI.
- Open the GOV.UK exempt developments page and the SI 2026/790 regulation 7A page and copy the sentences you will quote (the 0.2 hectares sentence, the sentence saying the exemptions do not apply if there is an impact on priority habitat on-site, and, for an application made before 6 August 2026, the transitional sentence) into your note word for word.
- Decide the outcome yourself, or have the named ecologist decide it, and write one outcome line: A, the facts suggest the exemption may apply and the planning authority should confirm it; B, BNG applies and here is the next step; or C, not enough information yet, with the list of what is missing. Whether an onsite priority habitat is impacted is the ecologist’s call, never the AI’s.
- Paste the facts, your chosen outcome line, the copied sentences and the next step into the prompt. The AI returns a reply of no more than 250 words that repeats the client’s facts, quotes the official sentences unchanged and states your outcome line, with blanks for names and the site.
- Read the draft against the live official pages. Delete any sentence that sounds like a promise or a legal opinion, make sure it tells the client the planning authority assesses the application, then have the named ecologist approve it and send it from your own email. Keep a dated note of which page wording you relied on.
The exact prompt
I work for a small ecological consultancy in England. A client has asked whether biodiversity net gain (BNG) applies to their planning application. Below are the facts they gave me, the outcome line that the named ecologist has chosen, the next step and the official sentences I copied from GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk. Task: write a reply email of no more than 250 words in plain English, polite and direct. It must: (1) thank them and repeat their facts back in a short list; (2) state the outcome line exactly as I give it; (3) quote the official sentences word for word, in quotation marks, without paraphrasing; (4) say in one sentence that the planning authority assesses the application, so they should confirm the position with it; (5) give the next step; (6) end with [SIGN-OFF]. Do not decide whether BNG applies. Do not say "you are exempt" or "you are not exempt" in your own words. Say nothing about habitats or priority habitat except inside the copied sentences. Do not mention fees. Say that this is for sites in England only. RULES FOR THIS CHAT: I will give you only my own text, headings, dates and figures that I have typed in. I have not included, and will not include, any client or landowner name, address, email or phone number, any site address, grid reference or map, any species location (the position of a roost, sett, nest, pond, record or survey point), or any other confidential detail about a site, client or landowner. Use the blanks [CLIENT], [LANDOWNER], [SITE] and [SPECIES LOCATION]. Do not ask for them and do not invent any. You must not give or suggest any ecological judgement: no view on whether a species or habitat is present, its value or condition, any impact or mitigation, whether a survey or licence is needed or adequate, whether survey data is in date, whether a site is exempt from biodiversity net gain, or whether anything is compliant, lawful or ready to sign off. Do not do arithmetic, count dates or work out areas: copy every figure and date exactly as I typed it. Where a judgement is needed, write [FOR THE ECOLOGIST TO DECIDE]. Everything you write is a draft that a named ecologist will check. FACTS FROM THE CLIENT: application date or planned date [DATE]; site area inside the red line boundary in hectares as shown on the plan [AREA]; householder or temporary development [TYPE]; variation of an earlier permission (section 73) [YES / NO]; habitat survey already exists [YES / NO] OUTCOME LINE CHOSEN BY THE NAMED ECOLOGIST: [A, B or C, with its exact words] NEXT STEP: [PASTE] OFFICIAL SENTENCES: [PASTE]
✓ Check before you send
- The site area is the red line area in hectares copied from the plan by you, not worked out by the AI; Defra’s blog team has said the 0.2 hectares covers all land within the red line boundary, including hardstanding, but that is a staff reply, so check it with the planning authority.
- The application date is before, on or after 6 August 2026 and the reply says which applies; the new exemption does not apply to an application made before 6 August 2026; for a variation, the original application and permission dates are also checked.
- The email does not state in its own words that a site is or is not exempt, and does not say anything about priority habitat that the named ecologist has not decided.
- Every quoted sentence matches the live GOV.UK or legislation.gov.uk page today, and the email says it is for England only.
- The named ecologist read and approved it, and no client, landowner or site detail went into the AI tool.
UK notes extra
- England only: the mandatory BNG regime applies in England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have different planning policy on biodiversity; this job does not cover them, so for a site there use the planning authority and the country’s own guidance.
- GOV.UK says: "From 6 August 2026, BNG does not apply to planning applications for developments where the site area within the red line boundary is 0.2 hectares or below." It also says that if there is an impact on priority habitat on-site, the exemptions for developments of 0.2 hectares or below, de minimis developments and temporary developments do not apply and BNG must be met, and that a development impacts a habitat if it decreases its biodiversity value. GOV.UK: biodiversity net gain, exempt developments (England; last updated 6 August 2026).
- SI 2026/790 (new regulation 7A): the first condition is that the development does not impact an onsite priority habitat; the second is that the site has an area no larger than 0.2 hectares; and the exemption does not apply where the application for planning permission was made before 6 August 2026. For a variation of an earlier permission (section 73), regulation 7A(5) says the exemption does not apply where the original application was made, or the original permission was granted, before 6 August 2026. legislation.gov.uk: SI 2026/790, regulation 3, inserting regulation 7A (England).
- The self-build and custom build exemption no longer applies for new planning applications made on or after 6 August 2026; householder applications, the de minimis rule and temporary developments (permission for 5 years or less, whole development temporary) are separate exemptions on the same page, so check which one applies. GOV.UK: biodiversity net gain, exempt developments (England; last updated 6 August 2026).
- Defra’s blog gives sites over 0.2 hectares as an example of a minor site that is not exempt, and says such sites can choose to go straight to off-site gains in the first instance (GOV.UK says the same from 6 August 2026; see the understanding BNG page). In comments on the blog Defra staff replied that the exemption is determined by the red line boundary (13 August 2026) and covers all land within it including hardstanding (24 September 2026); those replies are not legislation. Defra Environment blog: Biodiversity Net Gain, amendments and transitional arrangements published, 14 July 2026 (England; the replies from Defra staff in the comments are not legislation).
- BNG applies to nationally significant infrastructure projects from 2 November 2026 under different rules; this job does not cover them. GOV.UK: understanding biodiversity net gain (England; last updated 14 July 2026).
- Marketing rules: replying to a person who asked you a question is not marketing, but do not add them to a mailing list or send marketing about the 6 August change to individuals (including some sole traders) without consent that meets PECR; marketing emails to company addresses are allowed but you must honour objections. ICO: electronic mail marketing (PECR, UK).
Last reviewed Oct 2026. Free tools change. If a screen looks different, the steps still apply.Back to top ↑