Nutrient Neutrality for Landowners

New housing developments in affected catchments can’t get planning permission unless they prove they won't add nitrogen or phosphorus pollution to protected waterways. Most developers can’t achieve this on their development sites, so they need to buy nutrient credits from schemes in the same catchment.

This creates sustained demand for landowners who can provide nutrient mitigation. In 74 Local Planning Authorities across England and Wales, developments are stalled without access to credits. Prices are driven by local supply and demand, with limited supply in many catchments pushing values higher.

This is underpinned by the Habitats Regulations and applies wherever protected water bodies already have unsustainable nutrient levels. The affected area is growing - the issue is likely to more than double in scale over the next five years.

You create a scheme on your land that removes or prevents nutrients from entering waterways. This generates credits - each credit represents one kilogram per year of nitrogen or phosphorus removed. Developers in your catchment buy these credits to offset the nutrient load from their new housing.

Different approaches suit different land:

Taking land out of agricultural production removes the source of nutrients by stopping fertiliser or manure inputs. This has been widely used but requires significant land area and removes productive farmland. This is very suitable for temporary mitigation or when paired with a BNG scheme.  

Managing Drainage Ditches – need our USP to be high profile   

Management solutions involve more modest changes - creating riparian buffers, managing drainage ditches, or installing features that intercept nutrient flows. These can often work alongside continued farming and require less land.

Wetland creation treats nutrient-rich water before discharge. Purpose-built wetlands can deliver significant offsets without large land areas, though they require access to nutrient-loaded water.

Upgrading septic tanks to PTPs with certified P and N removal - include also   

Greenshank is the only company currently deploying drainage ditch management schemes for nutrient mitigation and is writing regulatory guidance on these catchment management approaches.

Nutrient credit prices vary by catchment. Credits can only be sold where they're generated, so each catchment operates as a distinct market with its own supply and demand dynamics.

In catchments with high development pressure and limited mitigation supply, prices are substantial. Phosphorus credits have sold for up to £100,000 per kilogram in some areas. Nitrogen credits typically command lower prices per kilogram but are required in higher quantities.

On a per-house basis, developers pay between £2,500 and £10,000 for nutrient credits depending on the catchment and local conditions.

Your returns depend on your land's location, the type of scheme you create, how many credits it generates, and ongoing management costs. Our clients have schemes Scheme values range from a few hundred thousand to tens of millions.  Schemes are typically secured in perpetuity through Section 106 agreements, providing long-term certainty for both you and credit buyers.

We provide bespoke assessments that calculate realistic projections for your specific situation.