Land Agent in Berkshire: Understanding Biodiversity Net Gain

Berkshire’s landscape combines productive farmland, historic estates and land located close to key transport routes and growing settlements. As planning policy and environmental regulation continue to evolve, landowners across the county are facing new decisions about how their land is managed and used. In this changing context, land agents in Berkshire play an important role in helping landowners navigate opportunities with confidence.

While land agents have traditionally focused on agricultural holdings and estate management, their role has broadened significantly. Today, land agents in Berkshire advise on planning strategy, land development and environmental schemes, alongside more familiar land transactions. By working closely with planners, ecologists and legal advisers, land agents provide practical guidance that reflects both commercial realities and environmental responsibility.

At Collington Winter Environmental, we support landowners and developers across Berkshire, offering clear advice and long-term thinking rooted in local knowledge.

The role of a land agent varies depending on the land and the landowner’s objectives. At its heart, land agency is about helping landowners make informed decisions and manage land with clarity.

Land agents advise on valuation, land sales and acquisitions, and longer-term land use strategy. They often work alongside estate agents where land of rural property is being marketed, particularly where a property for sale includes surrounding land or development potential.

Increasingly, land agents in Berkshire are also supporting clients with environmental considerations, helping them understand how policy changes may affect land use and value over time.

Biodiversity Net Gain is one of the most significant changes affecting land use in recent years. Introduced under the Environment Act 2021, the policy requires most major developments to deliver at least a 10% increase in biodiversity compared with the site’s condition before development.

When this uplift cannot be delivered onsite, developers must secure offsite biodiversity units. This has created a growing opportunity for landowners in Berkshire who are able to enhance or restore land for wildlife.

Lower-grade farmland, grassland and marginal areas can often be well suited to habitat creation. With the right management, BNG can provide a reliable long-term income stream while delivering genuine environmental benefits.

A habitat bank is land managed to create or enhance biodiversity over a minimum period of 30 years. The biodiversity uplift is measured using DEFRA’s Biodiversity Metric and converted into biodiversity units.

These units can then be sold to developers who need to offset environmental impacts elsewhere, offering landowners a structured and regulated approach to environmental land use.

BNG is an area where specialist advice is essential. Land agents in Berkshire help landowners understand whether their land is suitable for habitat creation and how BNG could fit into a wider land strategy.

By coordinating ecological surveys, advising on biodiversity unit potential and supporting negotiations with developers, land agents help ensure BNG projects are viable and well managed from the outset.

Collington Winter Environmental provides ecology-led land agency services across Berkshire. We work closely with landowners and developers to assess land, prepare Biodiversity Net Gain plans and guide projects through delivery.

Our team of land agents in Berkshire offers clear advice, practical insight and long-term support tailored to each site. To speak with us, contact info@collingtonwinter.co.uk or call 01204 939608.