England has confirmed the timetable to hard‑wire nature recovery into planning. Environmental Delivery Plan (EDP) powers and the framework for a new nature restoration levy started on 19 December 2025, with the first EDPs due in 2026. Wider planning reforms begin on 18 February 2026 under the new commencement regulations.

EDPs are area‑based plans prepared by Natural England and signed off by the Secretary of State. Each plan must define the area, kinds and volume of development covered, identify environmental features at risk, set out conservation measures, and explain which environmental obligations can be discharged or modified if the developer pays the levy.

The nature restoration levy will be set through regulations and expressed in charging schedules within each EDP. By law, ministers must aim to set the levy so that conservation costs can be funded by developers in a way that does not make development economically unviable, and money raised must be spent on measures linked to the specific feature impacted. Payment, collection and refunds (including instalments) will be governed by future regulations.

Approval is gated by an environmental safeguard: the Secretary of State may only make an EDP if the conservation measures will materially outweigh the negative effects of the covered development by the plan’s end date. Plans are consulted on publicly and must be published, with progress reports at midpoint and endpoint, plus an annual account of levy income and spend from 1 April 2026.

From day one, public authorities also carry a duty to cooperate with Natural England and provide reasonable assistance in preparing and implementing EDPs. Natural England is responsible for administering, implementing and monitoring the plans. These provisions took effect on 19 December 2025.

Beyond EDPs, the reforms reset how nationally significant infrastructure is guided. National Policy Statements (NPS) must undergo full review and amendment at least every five years, with updated parliamentary requirements for material changes. The new review cycle applies from 18 February 2026, aiming to keep energy, water and transport policy aligned with current evidence and net‑zero timelines.

Development corporations receive a modernised brief from 18 February 2026: in statute they must aim to contribute to sustainable development and to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change, with explicit regard to good design. Powers in relation to infrastructure are also standardised across corporation types.

Land assembly rules also shift. Conditional confirmation of compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) under the Levelling‑up and Regeneration Act 2023 will apply in England from 18 February 2026, alongside streamlined newspaper notice requirements and faster general vesting declaration routes under the 2025 Act, subject to transitional protections. The conditional route allows a CPO to be confirmed subject to specified conditions being met before powers are exercised.

Why this matters: nature in England needs a step‑change. The State of Nature partnership reports a 19% average decline in UK species since 1970, with even steeper drops in England. Meanwhile only about 35.5% of SSSI land area was in favourable condition in 2024. Strategic, evidence‑led restoration funded at scale is essential if development is to proceed without deepening ecological decline.

Safeguards and scrutiny will be decisive. The Office for Environmental Protection has warned that the ‘overall improvement test’ must be applied rigorously against strong evidence, given differences from existing Habitats Regulations tests. Government has since clarified in legislation that conservation actions must materially outweigh harm, with mandatory monitoring and back‑up measures to course‑correct where needed.

What changes for planners and developers now: Natural England has begun shaping EDPs with partners, with public consultations to follow. Authorities should line up data on local environmental features and planned growth, align with Local Nature Recovery Strategies, and prepare for levy budgeting once charging schedules are published. Natural England says EDPs will typically run up to ten years, be evidence‑based and include back‑up measures to secure outcomes.

Accountability will be visible. From 1 April 2026, Natural England must publish annual reports covering EDPs in force and preparation, levy income and conservation spend, and the Secretary of State must lay these before Parliament. If EDPs deliver measurable improvements while giving developers a predictable route through consenting, England will have turned a planning bottleneck into a nature‑positive delivery tool.