In the Spotlight: Legacy Habitat Banks

1. Could you share the story behind Legacy Habitat Banks and how your organisation came to embrace the mission of championing biodiversity net gain in real estate development?

“Originating from a family farm on the edge of the Trough of Bowland AONB, we initially acquired the land to focus on charity work, acting to connect individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds and sufferers of mental health and trauma with nature.

We diversified our farm sustainably, including planting 3,000 trees as part of the Woodlands from Waste initiative, establishing a wind turbine to provide the farm and grid with 100% renewable energy and creating a natural burial ground. As we continued to run these projects, we began to see the significant positive impact we were having on local wildlife.

However, we realised that to ensure continued sustainable farming and land practices on our site, we would need to find a way to fund long-term management and maintenance for the site, and this is how we came across BNG. Unfortunately, in the early stages, when we were looking to partner with organisations, the offerings on the market meant that we would not benefit directly from our natural capital from establishing and transacting BNG Units on our land.

We made the difficult decision to enter the early BNG market on our own, and following significant investment, time, and resources, we eventually partnered with a fantastic leadership team. Since then, we have gone from strength to strength, growing our internal team and partnerships with leading organisations; with a new HQ in Solihull in the West Midlands as a central hub for our national reach, we are keenly positioned to provide full spectrum services within the BNG market.”

 2. With the Environment Act 2021 mandating a minimum uplift in biodiversity for future development, how does Legacy Habitat Banks contribute to setting a new standard in real estate development that prioritises nature conservation and enhancement?

“Legacy Habitat Banks has a history of innovation and focuses on providing our clients with bespoke and flexible services within the Biodiversity Net Gain space. With the BNG market being in such infancy and often requiring the collaboration of numerous stakeholders and fields of technical expertise, a one-solution-fits-all approach is simply not viable.

We have a range of solutions, from ready-to-purchase BNG Units across numerous sites, conditionality, and habitat types to bespoke habitat banking solutions, which meet clients’ specific needs in an often opaque and confusing market. We offer specialised consulting services ensuring robust ecological surveys and reporting, and crucial governance and compliance guidance.

Our BNG Units are high integrity, backed by rigourous auditing and monitoring systems unique to us. One such example often neglected by the wider market of BNG Unit providers is our treatment of the funds required to create, enhance, maintain and report on the BNG Units, as required by law. With LHB, these funds are ring-fenced in a special purpose vehicle, operated entirely under mandate by a firm of chartered accountants. This means that when developers and local planning authorities deal with BNG Units from us, they can be reassured that the funds have been correctly calculated and protected for the entire 30-year period.”

3. How does Legacy Habitat Banks align its brand purpose with initiatives that not only mitigate negative impacts of real estate development on biodiversity but also actively contribute to enhancing natural habitats and ecosystems?

“Our business is rooted in the principle of providing a net gain for biodiversity, which will be harmed due to necessary development, but our values stretch beyond this. As an organisation, we pride ourselves on transparent approachability – we do not gatekeep information in this space and actively work to collaborate on research projects which seek to foster collective knowledge and engagement in this space.

As a workplace, we operate fully flexible and remote, focusing on our team’s work-life balance and happiness. Our core purpose is to work for nature and enable our stakeholders to benefit from the positive impacts that this can bring to their businesses and lives.”

4. Building a brand with a purpose-driven mission requires a clear vision and values. Can you discuss how Legacy Habitat Banks has developed its brand identity around the core values of environmental sustainability?

“From an early stage, we wanted LHB to provide a meaningful and lasting positive impact on nature, hence the rather on-the-nose use of ‘legacy’ in our company’s name. As we rush towards biodiversity bankruptcy as a society, the mission only becomes more urgent. What becomes clear from the debates and research around conservation is the need for collaboration, stakeholder engagement, transparency, and accountability.

The legacy shield logo speaks to our brand’s decision to offer high-integrity, secure, and transparent solutions for nature. The brand colours were considered also, for example the purple is related to our ambition, and green, which links this to nature showing our ambition to protect nature. Our presence on social media and direct communication with stakeholders seeks to inform and engage transparently.”

5. As leaders in the field of biodiversity net gain, what challenges have you faced along the way, and how have you overcome them to drive meaningful change in the real estate industry?

“In the initial stages, challenges often revolved around the uncertainty during the transition between the Environment Act 2021 and the implementation dates. In some circumstances, delays to mandatory BNG increased concern across numerous stakeholders that BNG would not be implemented, leading many to hold off preparations until Defra and Natural England issued solid confirmation; in most cases, the choice to delay preparing for BNG has been costly not only to developers who are now scrambling to meet BNG regulations but also some LPA’s who are now having to establish internal systems and guidance with a lack of resource.

LHB has overcome these initial challenges through early adoption, collaboration, and investment, meaning our solutions are already fit for purpose and have been tried and tested. Our presence in the market has meant that we have done much of the complex learning hands-on and in advance of where many entrants now find themselves, with many of the “unknown unknowns” already being dealt with.”

6. Lastly, could you share a success story or memorable project where Legacy Habitat Banks made a significant impact on biodiversity conservation while working with real estate developers?

“One of our recent projects required us to attend a planning committee to represent a client whose development fell just outside the mandatory 10% BNG implementation date but fell under the LPA’s no net loss policy. While the LPA applied the BNG metric as the agreed-upon form of measurement and solution, the developer needed to prepare off-site BNG solutions.

We were able to successfully support our client in the planning committee, leading to a successful application that will enhance 1 hectare of grassland—showing not only our ability to provide the physical BNG Units from our habitat banks but also how we support our client through the complete range services necessary to apply BNG to a development successfully.”

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