Having protected species on your land, like otters, can devalue your land but there are some steps you can take to help with your property. Below we explore the reasons behind how they can affect the value of your land and the steps landowners can take to make sure they’re prepared to sell their land.
If you’re a landowner and looking to sell your land but are concerned about protected species feel free to reach out to a member of our team to help assist you with your queries.
How Do Protected Species Devalue My Land?
Restrictions on Land Use
The presence of protected species, such as otters, may cause complications to what you can and can’t do with your land as there may be certain restrictions you have to follow. There is a law known as the Endangered Species Act & Wildlife Countryside Act which protects species that are endangered.
If the animals on your land fall into that category, you may have restrictions which you will need to follow e.g. not being able to build on their habitat or clearing their land. As you can imagine, this does sometimes have complications on the price of your land if you are looking to sell.
Public Perception
Believe it or not, public perception can have a big impact on your land. If you have certain species on your land that you are aiming to remove or build next to, this can go down badly with the public. If you are trying to sell to a developer who may want to build a property in the space, having bad PR isn’t going to help, which is why they may avoid your land or offer you less.
You could also have legal complications along the way if they think you haven’t dealt with the protected species correctly. It could be worth taking out an otter survey if you think you have them on your property or a different survey for the animal you may have. The survey will look into their habitat and be able to offer advice moving forward.
What Can Landowners Do to Help with Their Land?
If you are in a situation where you want to sell your land and are not sure about the protected species on it, you can speak to a specialist. At Greenlight we provide expert environmental consultancy advice for both domestic and commercial projects. You can reach out to us for a no-obligation chat to discuss your land requirements.
You can call us on 01379 413011 or fill out our contact form and a member of our team will be on hand to answer any questions you may have about your land.
