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How to apply for nutrient mitigation credits from Natural England

Updated 28 February 2024

Applies to England

If you want to build new housing within the Tees catchment area, you may need to mitigate any nutrient pollution your development creates. Mitigating nutrient pollution is part of the process to get planning permission with your local planning authority (LPA).

To do this, you can apply to buy credits that fund mitigation activities, such as creating a new woodland or wetland. This will balance out any nutrient pollution produced by your housing development.

This guidance explains how to buy credits from Natural England’s nutrient mitigation scheme.

Who can apply

You can apply to buy nutrient mitigation credits from Natural England if you want to build any number of housing units, including if you want to build just one house. You can be:

• an individual
• a housing developer of any size
• a consultant working on behalf of an individual or a developer

You must be planning to build housing within the Tees catchment area.

When to apply

The application round opens at 10am on 19 February 2024. It closes at 11:55pm on 15 March 2024.

Applications will be rejected if they are submitted after the round has closed.

You can apply to buy credits before you have planning permission.

There will be more application rounds in the future. Choose the round that best fits your planning application timings. For example, if you plan to build housing in 12 months’ time, consider applying for credits in future rounds.

How credits will be allocated

The way credits are allocated depends on the number of housing units you plan to build. In any one round, 60% of the credits will be made available to small developments (those of 50 units or less).

If you’re building 50 housing units or less

You’ll have the best chance of successfully applying for credits if you:

• submit your application as soon as possible after the round has opened
• already have planning permission subject to mitigating any nutrient pollution

If you’re building 51 housing units or more

Natural England will prioritise applications where the most housing units can be built per credit. For example, an application where 10 houses can be built for every credit will be prioritised over one where 5 houses can be built.

You will have the best chance of successfully applying for credits if you already have planning permission subject to mitigating any nutrient pollution.

Step 1: Calculate how many nutrient mitigation credits you need

Calculate how many credits you need to buy, based on how many nutrients your development needs to mitigate.

To do this:

• go to the Teesmouth nutrient budget calculator
• read the guidance on using the calculators

The calculator will tell you the total amount of nitrogen you need to mitigate and how many credits you need. To mitigate one kilogram (kg) of nitrogen, you need to buy one credit. To mitigate 2.75kg you’ll need to apply to buy 2.75 credits.

The calculator will tell you if your required credit amount changes post-2030. You should submit both your pre- and post-2030 credit amounts in your application form.

Short-term credits are not available in this round. Natural England will aim to satisfy credit needs based on pre-2030 requirements, using long-term credits.

Submit your calculations to your LPA as part of your planning application. Your LPA will confirm if the calculations are correct.

You can apply for credits before your calculations are confirmed.

If your LPA tells you that the number of credits you have applied for is incorrect, email Natural England at creditsales.nutrientmitigation@naturalengland.org.uk for advice on what to do next.

How much credits cost

The credit price stays at £2,300 in this application round. In future rounds and in different catchment areas, the cost of credits may vary, depending on the cost of mitigation projects.

There is a standard admin fee included, which covers the cost of processing the application. The fee is £182.50 plus VAT and is non-refundable.

Step 2: Apply for credits

You’ll need to provide the following information in your application form:

• the developer’s contact details
• the consultant’s contact details (if applicable)
• the site’s location as an Ordnance Survey (OS) grid reference
• the development site address
• a map showing the boundary of the development site as a geographic information system (GIS) polygon shapefile or Google Earth KML file
• the number of housing units you are building
• the number of units classed as affordable housing
• your planning application reference (if you have this)
• the date you expect the first unit to be occupied
• your planning permission reference number (if you have one)
• the number of credits you need to buy

Submit your nutrient budget calculation with your application form. If you do not, your application may be rejected.

Natural England will send you a confirmation email and a unique reference number within 10 working days of receiving your application.

Step 3: Agree to buy your credits

If your application is successful, you’ll get an email with:

• an unsigned nutrient credit certificate
• an invoice for 10% of the total cost of the credits or the admin fee, whichever is higher

You have 36 weeks from receiving the nutrient credit certificate to get planning permission. The certificate will state the start date.

If you’re unable to get planning permission within 36 weeks, contact Natural England at creditsales.nutrientmitigation@naturalengland.org.uk. You can request an extension by giving the reason for any delays.

If you do not contact Natural England about delays, your nutrient credit certificate will expire and credits may be reallocated.

You must check that the information on your nutrient credit certificate is correct, including:

• how many credits you’ve been allocated
• details of the development
• the total cost of credits for mitigation
• the scheme’s terms and conditions

If the information is incorrect, you should email Natural England at creditsales.nutrientmitigation@naturalengland.org.uk.

If the information is correct and you agree to join the scheme, you must:

1. Sign your nutrient credit certificate and email it to Natural England at creditsales.nutrientmitigation@naturalengland.org.uk.
2. Pay the balance of the invoice for 10% of your credits or the admin fee, whichever is higher.

When payment has been received, Natural England will countersign your nutrient credit certificate and send you a copy. This will be your provisional nutrient credit certificate. You can use it to inform your planning application.

You must inform Natural England within 8 weeks of getting planning permission. You can email a link to the decision notice on your LPA’s website to creditsales.nutrientmitigation@naturalengland.org.uk.

If your application is unsuccessful

Natural England will email you if your application is unsuccessful.

Applications can be unsuccessful for several reasons, including:

• your development is not inside a catchment area that Natural England can provide credits for
• your application form has incorrect or missing information
• Natural England did not have enough credits left to allocate during the current application round
• you did not pay the invoice

You can reapply when the next application round opens.

Step 4: Continue your application for planning permission with your LPA

Send a copy of your provisional nutrient credit certificate to your LPA as proof that you have been allocated nutrient mitigation credits.

Your LPA will then confirm whether you can continue your planning application.

Move to step 5 when your LPA has confirmed your development can go ahead.

If you do not continue with your planning application

You may be able to get a refund if you contact Natural England within 28 days of one of the following happening:

• you withdraw your planning application
• your development is refused planning permission
• you are given planning permission, but you do not agree to its terms and decide to withdraw from the development

To request your refund, email creditsales.nutrientmitigation@naturalengland.org.uk with:

• the reason for your refund
• your unique reference number

If your deposit is higher than the administration fee, Natural England may refund your 10% deposit, minus an admin fee of £182.50 plus VAT. If your deposit was the value of the administration fee, this is non-refundable.

Step 5: Pay for your credits

You can buy your allocated credits when your LPA has confirmed your development can go ahead.

Tell Natural England within 8 weeks of receiving planning permission. You can email a link to the decision notice on your LPA’s website to creditsales.nutrientmitigation@naturalengland.org.uk.

Natural England will invoice you for the remaining value of the total cost of your credits.

You must pay the invoice balance within 12 weeks of the date of the planning decision.

If you do not contact Natural England or pay your final invoice in time, your nutrient credit certificate will expire and your credits will be reallocated.

When Natural England has received full payment, they will send you your final nutrient credit certificate.

Step 6: Send your nutrient credit certificate to your LPA

When you have received your final nutrient credit certificate, send a copy to your LPA. Your LPA will confirm if you have met the nutrient mitigation conditions of your planning application.

When this has been confirmed, the housing on your development can be occupied.

If the size of your development changes

If the size of your development changes you must let your LPA and Natural England know.

It’s your responsibility to calculate and confirm how many credits you now need.

When you contact Natural England, provide your unique reference number and details of what has changed, including:

• how much the development has changed in size
• a map showing the new boundary of the development site as a geographic information system (GIS) polygon shapefile or Google Earth KML file
• how many credits you now need

Natural England will tell you if you need to submit a new application.

If the number of credits you need has increased, Natural England cannot guarantee it will be able to allocate you the additional credits. This may lead to a delay in your planning decision. You can apply for the additional credits in the next round of applications.

If the number of credits you need has decreased, you may be entitled to a partial refund. Natural England will tell you if this is possible.

If the name on the certificate needs amending 

If the name on the certificate needs to change you must inform Natural England as soon as possible.   

Contact creditsales.nutrientmitigation@naturalengland.org.uk.   

A change to the name of the certificate may require new due diligence checks and invoicing details. There may be an additional administration fee to pay.   

If a name change is not possible, any payment and VAT will be refunded without interest, after the admin fee has been deducted.

Get help

If you need more information on Natural England’s nutrient mitigation scheme and how to apply, email nutrientmitigation@naturalengland.org.uk.