Bat mitigation licences: site-specific or class licence
A site-specific European protected species mitigation licence and the registered consultant class licence route differ on eligibility, personnel and timescale. How to choose at design stage.
If bats are present and your works will damage a roost, you need a licence from Natural England before those works start, and you have a choice of route. The two bat mitigation licence routes are a site-specific European protected species mitigation licence, applied for after planning permission is granted, and a class licence operated by a registered consultant who can register eligible low impact sites without a full application. Choosing between them is a programming decision, and it should be made at design stage rather than after the ecologist delivers the survey report.
Get it wrong and you lose a season. Get it right and the licence stops being the thing that delays the start on site.
The two routes and what separates them
All bat species are protected under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Damaging or destroying a breeding site or resting place, or disturbing bats, is an offence unless you are acting under a licence.
A site-specific mitigation licence is granted to a named applicant for named works at a named site, with a method statement and a reasoned case against the three licensing tests. A class licence is a standing licence issued to a class of persons, under which a registered consultant can register a site that meets published eligibility criteria and then supervise the works. The second route is quicker because it substitutes registration for determination.
| Site-specific licence | Class licence route | |
|---|---|---|
| Who applies | The developer or their ecologist | A consultant registered with Natural England |
| Scope | Any species, any roost type, subject to the tests | Low impact roosts of common species only |
| Process | Full application, method statement, determination | Site registration against published criteria |
| Timescale | Weeks after permission is granted | Shorter, measured in days once registered |
| Oversight | Conditions on the licence, reporting at the end | Consultant records, annual return to Natural England |
| Planning permission | Must be in place first | Must be in place first |
Both routes require planning permission before the licence or registration can operate. That is the single most important programming fact on this page.
Eligibility limits for the class licence approach
The class licence route exists for the common, low conservation significance cases: small numbers of widespread species using a roost of limited importance, where mitigation is straightforward and the works are modest. It is not available where the roost is of high conservation significance.
The published criteria set limits on species, roost type and numbers. In broad terms, roosts of the rarer Annex II species and maternity roosts of real importance fall outside it, and so do large numbers of individuals and complex multi-species situations. The criteria are revised periodically, so a consultant should check the current version rather than rely on a scheme that was eligible two years ago.
The judgement that matters is not whether you would like to be eligible. It is whether the survey evidence supports eligibility, and that depends on the quality of the emergence and re-entry survey work done between May and September.
Who can act under each route
A site-specific licence can be applied for with a method statement prepared by a suitably experienced ecologist, and the licence names who may handle bats. Surveys and any mitigation licence require a suitably licensed ecologist under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Habitats Regulations. This is one of the report types where a licensed professional is legally required, and an AI-assisted draft is a starting point for that professional rather than a substitute for them. The same applies to a protected species survey and to a bat survey report.
The class licence route is narrower on personnel. Only a consultant registered under that class licence, with their registered assistants, can use it. If your ecologist is not registered, the route is unavailable to your project no matter how low the impact is, and sub-contracting the registration to another consultant mid-project rarely works cleanly because the registering consultant takes responsibility for the method and the supervision.
Timescales compared, and what actually drives the programme
The licence is rarely the longest item. The survey season is.
- Preliminary roost assessment, which can be done at any time of year.
- Emergence and re-entry surveys, in the season running from May to September, with the optimal months earlier in that window.
- Reporting, impact assessment and mitigation design.
- Planning application, determination and the grant of permission.
- Licence application or site registration.
- Works, supervised, with exclusion at the right time of year.
Steps two and four are the fixed costs in the programme. A scheme that reaches step five in October with no survey data has lost the best part of a year, which is why the preliminary roost assessment should happen before you commission drawings. Where demolition is involved, the sequencing question is covered in more detail in our note on protected species and the demolition method statement.
Evidence and method statement requirements
Both routes need the same underlying evidence: survey effort proportionate to the building and the likelihood of bats, species identification, roost type and status, numbers, and an assessment of the effect of the works.
The method statement then has to show how the three licensing tests are met. The works must be for a purpose the Regulations recognise, there must be no satisfactory alternative, and the action must not be detrimental to maintaining the favourable conservation status of the species. Each of those needs evidence rather than assertion. The no-satisfactory-alternative test in particular is where thin statements fail, because a reviewer will ask why the roost cannot simply be retained in the design.
Mitigation design usually means some combination of a bat loft, access points of a specified size and position, roof membrane choice that is safe for bats, timing restrictions around the maternity season, and lighting control. Specify all of it with dimensions. A method statement saying "bat access tiles will be installed" without positions, orientations or counts is the sort of document that attracts a request for further information. Reviewing drafts prepared by others is a discipline of its own, and our note on reviewing another consultant's ecology report sets out what to check.
Post-works reporting obligations
A site-specific licence carries conditions requiring a report at the end, usually confirming what was found during works, what mitigation was installed and whether it matches the approved statement. Photographs of installed features, dated, are the simplest way to discharge it.
The class licence route substitutes consultant record-keeping and periodic returns to Natural England. The record sits with the consultant, not with the developer, which means a developer who changes ecologist mid-scheme should ask for copies of the registration and the records before the handover. Planning conditions often require the same information separately, so check whether the condition and the licence ask for the same thing in different formats.
Choosing the route at design stage
Ask three questions at the point the preliminary roost assessment lands. Does the likely roost type and species look eligible for the class licence route on the current criteria. Is our ecologist registered under that licence. Does the programme have room for a site-specific application after permission, with determination time included.
If the answer to the first two is yes, design the mitigation to stay inside the eligibility criteria rather than drifting out of them for the sake of a detail. If the answer to either is no, build the licence application into the programme as a distinct post-permission stage with its own float. And if the roost turns out to be a maternity roost of a rarer species, accept early that the site-specific route is the only one available and plan the year accordingly.
To see which ecology and other reports a site is likely to need before you commission surveys, enter the postcode on PlanScope and work through the guided questions.
PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. For specialist technical reports, qualified professional input may be required.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need planning permission before a bat licence?
Yes. Both the site-specific mitigation licence and the class licence route require planning permission to be in place before the licence can operate for the development works. Build the licence stage into the programme after determination, with its own float, rather than assuming it can run alongside the application.
Which bat roosts are excluded from the class licence?
Roosts of high conservation significance, including maternity roosts of real importance and roosts of the rarer Annex II species, together with large numbers of individuals and complex situations. Natural England publishes the eligibility criteria and revises them, so a consultant should check the current version for each site.
Can any ecologist use the class licence route?
No. Only a consultant registered under that class licence, with their registered assistants, can register a site and supervise the works. If your ecologist is not registered the route is closed to the project, regardless of how low the impact is, and transferring registration mid-scheme is rarely clean.
What are the three licensing tests?
The works must serve a purpose the Habitats Regulations recognise, there must be no satisfactory alternative, and the action must not be detrimental to maintaining the favourable conservation status of the species. The no-satisfactory-alternative test is where weak method statements usually fail.
When can bat surveys be carried out?
A preliminary roost assessment can be done at any time of year. Emergence and re-entry surveys run through the season from May to September, with the earlier months preferred. Missing the window generally pushes a scheme into the following year, so commission the assessment before design work starts.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.