The legal requirement for developers to deliver Biodiversity Net-Gain (BNG) came into effect for developers of major housing projects (0.5 hectares or more, and/or 10+ dwellings) on February 12.
Now, from today (2 April), the requirement will be expanded to small housing developments and all commercial and mixed-use developments. It will impact almost 30,000 planning applications each month in England.
Developments that do not impact priority habitats and only impact less than 25 square metres of on-site habitat are among some of the only projects classed as exempt from BNG. A full list of exemptions can be found here, from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
I’d argue (without any data to back it up) that most of those second homes are in places that are not economically viable places to live (rural, seasonal towns etc.)
Personally I’d say the solution is higher density housing near cities where there are jobs and current infrastructure. These immense satellite towns that stink of American suburbia are the worst case scenario and only serve to line the pockets of shitty companies like Taylor Wimpy etc.