Designated
responsible body under Defra
Any duration
Flexible to suit your project requirements.
Land charge
registered against the title
In-house
ecologists monitor and report
A private agreement that stays with the land
A conservation covenant is a voluntary, legally binding agreement between a landowner and a designated responsible body. It sets out how land will be managed for conservation, and it binds the land rather than the person who signed it, so it survives sale. It is registered as a local land charge and will be monitored by BioGains to ensure the delivery commitments made are met.
More than biodiversity net gain
Most covenants we are asked about secure BNG habitat for thirty years. However, the mechanism is broader than that, and we are interested in the full range of what it can hold in place.
Habitat protection and restoration
The most common use: created or enhanced habitat, secured for the full thirty-year term.
Species recovery
Land managed for a named species rather than for a broad habitat type.
Natural flood management
Floodplain reconnection and catchment work, held in place for the long term.
Nutrient neutrality
Mitigation land secured where a catchment is already under nutrient pressure.
Heritage, access and farming
Cultural heritage, public access and regenerative land management can all be secured the same way.
From first call to registered charge
Talk to us early
We can help you more the earlier you get in contact. Talk to us before you design your project if possible.
Agree what is being secured
We review the site, the designs and the management plan, then set out exactly what the covenant will commit the land to, and for how long.
Execute the deed
We complete the conservation covenant with you as a deed. It is registered as a local land charge, so it binds whoever owns the land next.
Monitor and report
Our team monitors against the agreed standards for the life of the agreement and ensures the agreed management plan is being followed, and outcomes achieved.
Tell us about the site
Send any designs and ideas you have. We will come back on whether a conservation covenant is the right instrument, what it would commit the land to, and what our fees would be.
We aim to reply within 48 hours, Monday to Friday.
Working alongside developers, landowners and organisations across the country.
What landowners and developers ask us
An organisation designated by Defra under the Environment Act 2021 to create, hold and enforce conservation covenants. BioGains Ltd is one of them. Designation means Defra is satisfied that the organisation has a UK base and that conservation is central to what it does.
Yes, and that is the point of it. A conservation covenant binds the land rather than the person who signed it, and it is registered as a local land charge, so it shows up on searches and passes to successors in title. Selling the land does not release the obligations.
For biodiversity net gain the statutory minimum is thirty years, and that is what most of the covenants we hold are set at. A covenant can be written to run for longer, or in perpetuity, if that is what the parties want.
As early as you sensibly can. Early contact also means we can work through issues with you and flag anything about the site that would make the covenant harder to put in place.
Fees depend on the scope, the complexity of the site and its size, so we quote each one individually. Get in touch to share your intentions and send the site plan through the form on this page and we will come back to you.
