England’s nature restoration levy now has a working rulebook. The Nature Restoration Levy Regulations 2026 were made on 10 September 2026, came into force on 11 September 2026 and were introduced by the Secretary of State after approval by both Houses of Parliament. For planners, developers and communities, the immediate change is simple. Where the levy applies, development must not begin until the levy is paid in full or, where Natural England allows instalments, until the first instalment has been paid. The instrument extends to England and Wales, although it sits within the England planning regime created by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025.

According to the Explanatory Note, the levy sits inside Environmental Delivery Plans, or EDPs, which identify the likely negative effects of development and the conservation work intended to address them. Once a developer enters the levy route and pays, certain environmental obligations linked to that impact are discharged, with the money redirected into planned restoration. That is the part that makes this more than a planning charge. The Regulations require Natural England to spend levy funds on conservation measures in the relevant EDP and on the same environmental feature for which the levy was raised. The money can pay for delivery, management, maintenance and monitoring, which gives habitat recovery a better chance of lasting beyond a headline announcement.

The charging model is flexible enough to reflect local conditions. Natural England must set charging schedules with reference to actual and expected costs, including work by other public authorities, and it may reduce rates where other funding is already available. Charges can differ by development size, location, intended use or environmental effect. The levy amount is then calculated from the relevant schedule and the details of the development, with annual indexation built in. Very small sums fall away entirely, because provisional amounts below £50 become nil. Payments are adjusted for inflation using the RICS CIL Index, or an Office for National Statistics housing-inclusive inflation measure if that index is unavailable.

The first responsibility sits with the developer, but the Regulations do not allow easy gaps when schemes change hands. Liability can be assumed formally, transferred to another party, or attach to the committed developer in cases authorised by general consent. Once liability arises, Natural England must issue a liability notice setting out who pays, how much is due and when. If no one assumes liability where required, or if overdue sums cannot be recovered, Natural England can move against owners of the land. In most of those cases it must apportion the bill according to the market value of each material interest, on the assumption that the development has been completed. For landowners and funders, that makes the levy a real commercial consideration, not a distant planning footnote.

There is also a stronger transparency trail than many environmental funding pots receive. After payments are made, Natural England must send written acknowledgements showing what has been paid, what remains outstanding and whether interest is still accruing. It must also account separately for levy funds under each EDP. The reporting duty goes further. Midpoint, final and annual reporting must show outstanding levy amounts, total spending on conservation measures and spending on network conservation measures. If all planned measures for an EDP no longer need funding, the Regulations still keep the money tied to nature by requiring it to be spent on additional conservation work for the same environmental feature.

Enforcement is where the instrument shows its teeth. Natural England may impose a surcharge where no one assumed liability when they should have done, where a payment is late, or where a material change to a development was not reported and the recalculated levy is higher. Interest on overdue sums runs automatically at 2.5 percentage points above Bank of England base rate. If non-payment continues, the response can tighten fast. Natural England may issue a warning notice, then a stop notice preventing specified activities on the site until the overdue amount is cleared. The levy also becomes a local land charge affecting the land, with court-backed enforcement available in higher-value cases. Most surcharges only apply once the unpaid amount reaches £1,000, and the local land charge enforcement route cannot be used below £2,000.

Importantly, the scheme does include routes to challenge decisions. Liable persons can ask Natural England to review the levy amount, and landowners can seek a review of how liability has been apportioned. Further appeals can then go to the Secretary of State. While a review or appeal is live, the disputed sum does not become overdue. The Explanatory Note says no separate impact assessment was produced for this instrument because one was not required for the levy regulations themselves, with ministers instead pointing back to the wider assessment for the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. That means the real verdict will come from delivery. If Environmental Delivery Plans are well designed and transparently reported, this levy could turn planning pressure into steady funding for habitat repair rather than another promise that fades once permission is granted.