The fund has been established alongside the Planning and Infrastructure Bill entering law
The Nature Restoration Fund aims to boost housebuilding while simultaneously improving and protecting the environment.
It has been established as an alternative system to the current one which frequently sees housing developments declined and the natural environment suffering.
Developers will pay into the fund
The fund will take contributions from housing developers, and their money will be put towards restoring protected habitats and species through organisations such as Natural England.
In return, developers will be able to avoid several individual mitigation measures.
The actions taken will be in accordance with Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs), the first of which will be established in 2026.
Nature minister, Mary Creagh, said: “We are changing the broken planning system to ensure that we can deliver new homes and infrastructure while protecting and restoring nature.
“The Nature Restoration Fund will help restore our most treasured protected habitats and species whilst building the homes Britain needs.”
Chief executive of Natural England, Marian Spain, said: “The Planning and Infrastructure Bill becoming law gives us the opportunity to build the homes and infrastructure our country needs while driving nature’s recovery.
“Thriving nature is essential for our nation’s growth, health and security. Through the Nature Restoration Fund, we can deliver new homes and make it easier for developers to meet their obligations to protect sites and species by investing at scale in nature’s recovery and restoring the natural systems that underpin our prosperity and protect our wellbeing.
“Natural England is now working at pace with the many people we need to make this happen and have the first Environmental Delivery Plans ready for next summer.”
Why we must build with nature in mind
Writing for PBC Today, the team responsible for the Eden Project explained why the loss of the natural environment is an issue that should be on everyone’s mind, and why the built environment must build with respect for the natural.
They wrote: “Year on year, we fall short nationally and globally in funding nature, so year on year, the problem gets worse. We need to find new ways to support nature, including new types of partnerships that combine different skill sets, establishing more nature-related leadership in the boardroom, and integrating nature into core business planning.
“Investing in nature is an investment in quality and resilience. Both are good things for business, especially the construction industry. Nature is also a fantastic muse, inspiring us to think differently, supporting problem-solving and helping us to create places that are both beautiful and useful.
“We also need to start thinking about the more-than-human community. In addition to us, the UK is home to more than 70,000 species. Their ‘housing’ has shrunk dramatically over the last 70 years. We need to give greater thought to where they live now, where they will need to live, and how they can move in response to climate change. We need to be better neighbours to nature, and we need to think bigger.”
