Ramsar Site
Internationally important protected wetland
A Ramsar Site is a wetland of international importance, such as a marsh, fen, bog or estuary. Sites are listed under the Ramsar Convention for their rare habitats and wildlife. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee holds the UK register, and all four UK nations have designated sites.
What This Means
This property lies within or close to protected wetland. Living here, redecorating and repairing the house need no wildlife consent. The garden is yours to use as normal. Constraints appear when you want to build an extension, a new dwelling or hard standing near the water. Work likely to affect the wetland needs a Habitats Regulations Assessment, adding months and cost to a planning decision. In some catchments a new home must also fund nutrient mitigation before permission. This does not normally affect mortgage approval, buildings insurance or resale.
Practical Advice
- Ask your conveyancer's environmental search to confirm whether the plot falls inside the Ramsar boundary or merely near it.
- Ask the local planning authority whether a nutrient or water neutrality scheme applies in this catchment before pricing any extension.
- Ask the seller for the planning permissions and discharged conditions covering any building already added near the wetland.
- Ask the planning authority's pre-application service what mitigation a new dwelling on this plot would have to fund.
Key Points
- Natural England's August 2020 phosphate advice on the Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar site held up more than 18,000 homes across the county until developers could secure mitigation.
- Natural England's July 2020 advice on the Stodmarsh wetland in Kent stalled housing decisions across Canterbury and Ashford, where schemes now have to show nutrient neutrality.
Additional Information
In Great Britain a Ramsar site is underpinned by a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and that is where any consent duty on your own land actually sits. Northern Ireland uses an Area of Special Scientific Interest for the same purpose. The wetland listing itself adds planning weight rather than paperwork.