Nature Restoration Levy rules for England explained

Legal writing can make public policy feel further away than it really is. So let’s translate this one. Official GOV.UK guidance on using and enforcing the Nature Restoration Levy was published on 1 September 2026, and Parliament then approved the regulations on 3 September in the Lords and 7 September in the Commons. The rules sit under the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 and form part of the new Nature Restoration Fund system. (gov.uk) The first useful thing to know is simple. Although the instrument forms part of the law of England and Wales, its practical effect is in England. That matters because the levy works through Natural England and through Environmental Delivery Plans, usually shortened to EDPs. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk)

Government papers say the old system often relied on site-by-site assessments and one-off mitigation, while environmental decline continued and housing or infrastructure schemes could be delayed for years. The new model is meant to pool money and let Natural England organise conservation action at a bigger scale. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk) **What this means:** the levy is not simply a fee for filing paperwork. It is the payment route that can let a development deal with certain environmental obligations through an EDP instead of separate project-specific measures. If an EDP covers a particular impact, the local planning authority does not need to assess that impact through the usual route, but anything outside the EDP still has to go through the normal legal process. Some EDPs will be optional, some can be mandatory, and biodiversity net gain remains separate. (gov.uk)

Using the levy follows a chain. Official guidance says a developer can get a quote, request to use the levy, submit a levy commitment with the planning application, assume liability and then pay. If planning permission is granted for a development using the levy, the regulations require a pre-commencement condition to be attached. (gov.uk) That condition is strict. Development must not begin until the levy has been paid in full, or until the first instalment has been paid where Natural England has agreed instalments. If work had already started before the request was accepted, the GOV.UK guidance says someone must assume liability within 28 days of acceptance, or within 28 days of a later consent where one is still needed. **What this means:** the levy is supposed to be settled early, not left until the build is already moving. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk)

Who pays is more important than it may first look. A person can assume liability by notice to Natural England, and a liable person can later transfer that liability to somebody else. Where more than one liable person exists, liability is generally joint and several. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk) If nobody assumes liability, or if Natural England cannot recover an overdue amount after making reasonable efforts, it can shift liability onto owners with material interests in the land. Where that happens, Natural England must usually split the amount between those interests by open-market value, working on the basis that the development had been completed the day before the split is worked out. **What this means:** land ownership can become the safety net for the levy, even if the owner was not the person running the development site each day. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk)

The bill itself is not picked out of thin air. Natural England’s charging schedules must reflect the actual and expected cost of delivering, managing, maintaining and monitoring the conservation measures in an EDP, plus the administration of the plan and the levy. The schedule can charge different rates by area, type of development, size or environmental impact, and it can set a lower rate if other funding is expected to cover part of the cost. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk) There are a few practical details worth noticing. If the provisional amount is under £50, the levy is nil. Natural England may allow instalments, but the liability notice still sets the amount and due dates, and the sum is adjusted for inflation first when liability arises and again when payment is made later. That is why a quote, a liability notice and the final payment figure may not all match exactly. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk)

A fair question is where the money goes. The regulations say levy funds must be spent on conservation measures listed in the relevant EDP and tied to the environmental feature for which the levy was charged. That spending can include the delivery and long-term monitoring of those measures, and it can also cover the administration needed to run the EDP and collect the levy. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk) This matters because the rules try to stop the levy becoming a loose pot of cash. Natural England must account separately for levy funds for each EDP, and midpoint, final and annual reporting must show outstanding levy amounts and spending on conservation measures. If the original measures no longer need funding, any remaining money still has to stay tied to additional conservation work for the same environmental feature. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk)

Plans can change, and the regulations expect the paperwork to change with them. A liable person must tell Natural England if there is a material change in the development details used to calculate the levy, and Natural England must recalculate when it is notified or otherwise becomes aware of a change. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk) A request to use the levy can also be cancelled. The rules allow rescission where, for example, no planning application is made within 6 months of Natural England accepting the request, planning permission is later refused and that refusal stands, the only permission is revoked or expires, or the developer no longer intends to proceed with the same scheme. The regulations also allow payments from a stopped development on the same or overlapping land to be transferred to another development in certain cases, and overpayments are normally repayable subject to exceptions. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk)

Natural England’s enforcement powers are not light-touch. Official guidance says surcharges are the standard response, although Natural England may decide not to impose them where exceptional circumstances exist. Failure to assume liability can bring a surcharge of 2% of the levy or £300, whichever is higher, provided the levy is at least £1,000. Late payment can bring separate surcharges after 30 days, 6 months and 12 months, each set at 5% of the overdue amount or £300, whichever is higher, again with a £1,000 floor. Interest then runs daily at 2.5 percentage points above the Bank of England base rate. (gov.uk) If an amount stays unpaid, Natural England can issue a warning notice and then a stop notice that halts specified activities. The warning period must be at least 3 days and no more than 28 days. The levy is also recoverable as a debt, and it sits as a local land charge on the land until liability ends or is discharged. Natural England can ask the county court to let it enforce that charge, but not if the outstanding levy amount is below £2,000. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk)

If you think Natural England has got the numbers wrong, there is a staged challenge process. A liable person can ask Natural England to review the levy amount within 28 days of the latest liability notice, and an owner can ask for a review of apportionment within 28 days of the first liability notice to them. The review must be carried out by someone who was not involved in the original decision, and while a review or certain appeals are outstanding, no relevant amount is payable and nothing can become overdue. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk) After those reviews, appeals go to the Secretary of State. Appeals on the levy amount and apportionment must normally be filed within 28 days of the review decision, while appeals on warning or stop notices get 60 days. Official guidance says interested parties then have 14 days to submit written representations and a further 14 days to comment on one another’s case. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk) One last reason this matters: the House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee said the draft regulations were politically or legally important and recorded outside concerns about missing guidance and levy design. Some of that gap has since narrowed because official guidance is now live, and GOV.UK says draft EDPs will go through public consultation before final plans are published. **Our reading:** the big legal machinery is now in place, but the real argument will move to each EDP, its charging schedule and whether the promised conservation gains actually show up on the ground. (publications.parliament.uk)