Biodiversity Net Gain
Delivering biodiversity. Enabling development.
St Aubyn Natural Capital provides high-quality Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) units from a portfolio of large and varied habitat banks across our estates in Cornwall.
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is about making sure new development delivers positively for nature. Most developments in England now need to achieve at least a 10% improvement in biodiversity.
Where this can’t all be delivered on the development site itself, developers can purchase off-site BNG units from habitat banks. St Aubyn Natural Capital creates and manages these habitats across its land in Cornwall, providing developers with a straightforward way to meet their BNG requirements while delivering lasting benefits for nature.
Have a BNG requirement? Send us your metric and we will review availability and pricing.
Our approach
Making BNG straightforward
BNG is one part of a wider development process. We understand that developers need certainty over unit availability, cost and delivery — often within demanding project timescales.
With significant availability across habitat, hedgerow and watercourse units, we can accommodate requirements large or small, from individual units to substantial multi-habitat packages.
Our approach is straightforward and pragmatic. We respond quickly, seek solutions rather than obstacles, and work closely with developers, ecologists, planning consultants and Local Planning Authorities to help deliver practical BNG solutions.
Our scale, direct control of the land and commitment to long-term management allow us to remain highly competitive. We regularly benchmark our prices against the wider BNG market and are happy to discuss package pricing for larger or multi-habitat requirements.
A long-term partner
Stewardship that lasts
BNG creates obligations that endure for at least 30 years. The organisation standing behind those obligations matters.
St Aubyn Estates has been part of the West Cornwall landscape for centuries. Long-term stewardship of land, communities and the natural environment is fundamental to how the Estate operates.
We pride ourselves on conducting business professionally, expediently and decently. That same approach underpins our BNG offer.
For developers, this means dealing directly with an established landowner with the land, experience and long-term commitment required to deliver the habitat improvements behind the units we sell.
Our habitat banks
Scale and diversity
We have created a portfolio of substantial habitat banks designed to deliver meaningful, long-term benefits for nature while providing developers with a reliable source of off-site BNG units.
Across the portfolio we have habitat, hedgerow and watercourse units, including medium, high and very high distinctiveness units.
The scale and diversity of our habitat banks means we can often satisfy multiple elements of a development’s BNG requirement through a single supplier, making procurement simpler and more efficient.
Habitat
Medium · High · Very High distinctiveness units
Hedgerow
Medium · High · Very High distinctiveness units
Watercourse
Medium · High · Very High distinctiveness units
Flexible Supply
From individual units to large multi-habitat requirements
Local and
national supply
Cornwall and beyond
Our habitat banks are particularly well placed to support development in Cornwall and the South West, where we can provide a broad range of locally sourced BNG units.
Our reach, however, extends well beyond Cornwall.
We supply BNG units to developments across England, taking account of the statutory biodiversity metric and spatial risk multiplier. Our competitive pricing means that, even where the spatial risk multiplier applies, purchasing units from St Aubyn Natural Capital can still provide an attractive and cost-effective solution.
Wherever your development is located, we are happy to review the requirement and establish whether our habitat banks can provide a suitable solution.
Working with you
From initial requirement to delivery
We want buying BNG units from St Aubyn Natural Capital to be straightforward.
- Send us your requirement
Provide your biodiversity metric, development location or details of the units you require. - We identify and price the units
We review our habitat banks, the relevant spatial considerations and availability before providing a clear proposal. - We help you deliver the solution
Where required, we work alongside your ecologist and planning team and can coordinate directly with the Local Planning Authority to support the development’s BNG strategy.
We welcome both one-off purchases and longer-term relationships with developers, housebuilders, agents and ecological consultants. For organisations with an ongoing development pipeline, we are particularly interested in establishing relationships that provide greater certainty around future BNG requirements, availability and pricing.
BNG Enquiries
Send us your metric
If you have an immediate BNG requirement or are considering the needs of a future development, please get in touch.
To allow us to assess your requirement quickly, send us:
- Your biodiversity metric, if available
- Development location
- Local Planning Authority
- Habitat, hedgerow and/or watercourse units required
- Required timescale
We will review the requirement and come back to you with availability and indicative pricing in no longer than 48 hours.
We will use the information you provide to respond to your enquiry and, where relevant, discuss your requirements with you. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about how we use your personal data.