Conservation covenants and responsible bodies in practice
Created by the Environment Act 2021, a conservation covenant binds whoever owns the land next and lasts indefinitely over freehold unless the deed says otherwise. What landowners should check first.
A conservation covenant is a private agreement over land that binds whoever owns it next, made between a landowner and a body designated by the Secretary of State, for a conservation purpose. It was created by Part 7 of the Environment Act 2021, and most landowners meet it for the first time when a habitat bank or an off-site biodiversity gain deal lands on the desk.
The default position surprises people. A conservation covenant over freehold land lasts indefinitely unless the agreement says otherwise.
What the covenant actually is
The agreement has to do four things to count. It must be in writing and executed as a deed by the landowner and the responsible body. It must state on its face that the parties intend to create a conservation covenant. It must contain at least one obligation that has a conservation purpose, meaning the conservation of the natural environment or natural resources, or of places of archaeological, architectural, artistic, historic or traditional interest. And the obligation must be for the public good.
Obligations come in two shapes. Positive ones, requiring the landowner to do something, such as manage a meadow by a stated cutting regime or maintain a hedgerow. Negative ones, restricting what may be done, such as a bar on ploughing, on applying fertiliser or on erecting buildings.
The landowner must hold a qualifying estate, which means the freehold or a lease with more than seven years left to run. A tenant farmer on a shorter agreement cannot grant one.
Who can hold one
Only a designated responsible body can be a party. Defra publishes the list of bodies the Secretary of State has designated, and it includes local authorities, public bodies, conservation charities and some commercial organisations whose activities relate to conservation. The list changes as new bodies are designated, so check it rather than assuming an organisation qualifies.
The responsible body does not need to own any land. Its role is to hold and enforce the obligations, to monitor compliance, and to apply any damages it recovers to a conservation purpose rather than to its general funds.
Read that last point carefully before you sign. The body enforcing the covenant is not the council, is not accountable to you, and in the case of a commercial responsible body may change hands during the life of an agreement that has no end date.
How it differs from a section 106 obligation
Both bind successors in title. That is where the similarity stops.
| Conservation covenant | Section 106 obligation | |
|---|---|---|
| Statute | Environment Act 2021, Part 7 | Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 106 |
| Other party | Designated responsible body | Local planning authority, or other body named in the Act |
| Trigger | None needed; a private agreement | Almost always tied to a planning permission |
| Test applied | Conservation purpose and public good | Necessary, directly related, and fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind, where taken into account in a decision |
| Duration | Indefinite over freehold unless stated | As drafted, commonly tied to the development |
| Route to change | Agreement, or application to the Upper Tribunal | Agreement, or application to the authority under section 106A with a right of appeal |
The practical difference is who you deal with afterwards. A section 106 agreement is enforced by an authority with a published enforcement policy and a democratic structure behind it. A conservation covenant is enforced by whoever holds it, using ordinary civil remedies including injunction, specific performance and damages.
Registration, title and sale
A conservation covenant is registered as a local land charge. It will show in the searches a buyer's conveyancer carries out, and it binds that buyer whether or not the seller mentioned it.
Sellers should disclose it early and price it in. Land carrying a 30-year management obligation with a cutting regime, a monitoring visit and reporting duties is a different asset from unencumbered pasture, and the discovery of the covenant at search stage after a price has been agreed is how sales collapse.
Buyers should read the schedule of obligations, not the recitals. The management plan appended to the deed is the document that says what you will actually be doing every year, and it usually runs to more pages than the deed itself.
Changing or ending a covenant
There are three routes. The parties can agree a modification or a discharge between themselves. The responsible body can release the landowner unilaterally. Or either party can apply to the Upper Tribunal, which has power to discharge or modify an obligation where it is reasonable to do so having regard to any change of circumstances.
A covenant also ends automatically if the responsible body ceases to be designated and no replacement takes over, and where the land is acquired compulsorily. On leasehold land it ends with the lease.
Do not assume the Tribunal route is a safety valve. It exists, it costs money, and it turns on demonstrating changed circumstances rather than on a change of mind about the deal.
Covenants and biodiversity net gain
This is where most covenants are being signed. The statutory biodiversity net gain regime requires significant off-site gains to be secured for at least 30 years, and the legislation allows that security to come from either a planning obligation or a conservation covenant. Sites are then entered on the biodiversity gain sites register operated by Natural England before the units can be allocated to a development.
For a landowner creating a habitat bank, the covenant is the mechanism that makes the units saleable. A developer buying units needs the assurance that the habitat will still be there in year 29, and the covenant gives that assurance in a form that survives sale of the land, insolvency of the original owner and a change of farming policy.
The condition survey that establishes the baseline matters as much as the deed. A preliminary ecological appraisal and a completed statutory metric define what the land is at the start, and the covenant then locks in what it has to become. Getting the baseline wrong in either direction is expensive, because the obligation runs for three decades. The mechanics of that metric are set out in the biodiversity net gain assessment guidance.
Biodiversity net gain assessment requires the statutory metric to be completed by a competent person under the Environment Act 2021 regime, and a biodiversity gain plan must be approved by the local planning authority. An AI-assisted draft is a starting point for that professional rather than a substitute for them.
What to settle before signing
Ask five questions and get the answers in the deed. How long, with an end date written down rather than left to the statutory default. Who monitors, how often, and who pays for it. What happens if a management target is missed for reasons outside your control, such as a drought year or a disease outbreak. What happens if the responsible body loses its designation or is taken over. And what the payment schedule is, including whether it is indexed.
Take your own legal advice, separately from the body promoting the deal. This is general guidance, not legal advice, and a covenant with no end date deserves more scrutiny than a grant agreement.
Draft the ecological supporting documents for a site in minutes at PlanScope, then send them to a suitably qualified ecologist for review. The full list of report types shows which ones a habitat scheme normally needs.
PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a conservation covenant last?
Over freehold land the default is indefinite, unless the agreement states an end date. Over leasehold land it ends when the lease ends. Because the statutory default runs without limit, agree and write down the term you actually intend rather than leaving it to the Act, particularly where the deal is tied to a 30-year management period.
Who can be a responsible body?
Only an organisation designated by the Secretary of State. Defra publishes the current list, which includes local authorities, public bodies, conservation charities and some commercial organisations whose activities relate to conservation. The body does not need to own land. Check the published list rather than relying on an organisation's own description of itself.
Will a conservation covenant show up on a property search?
Yes. A conservation covenant is registered as a local land charge, so it appears in the searches a buyer's conveyancer carries out and binds that buyer regardless of what the seller said. Disclose it early in a sale and expect it to affect value, because the obligations transfer with the land.
Can a conservation covenant be removed?
By agreement between the landowner and the responsible body, by unilateral release from that body, or by application to the Upper Tribunal, which can discharge or modify an obligation where it is reasonable to do so having regard to any change of circumstances. It also ends where the land is compulsorily acquired.
Why are covenants used for biodiversity net gain?
Significant off-site gains must be secured for at least 30 years, and the legislation allows that security to be provided by either a planning obligation or a conservation covenant. The site is then entered on the biodiversity gain sites register operated by Natural England before units can be allocated to a development.
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.