Unlock planning fast with STS nutrient credits

Projects at a standstill due to nutrient neutrality rules? Get back on track with our nutrient mitigation scheme – and receive 90-year guaranteed credits, backed by Natural England, in less than two weeks.

Buy nutrient credits here

Fast-tracking planning

Nutrient neutrality doesn't have to hold up your projects. We know thousands of new homes are on a waiting list, but we're helping to get you building again with readily available nutrient credits that meet local planning authorities' strict requirements.

Find credits in our portal

Guided by advice from
Natural England

Our solution isn't just the fastest – it's considered, measured, and meets all compliance standards. Formally reviewed and approved by local planning authorities, our scheme is guaranteed to provide nutrient mitigation for the development's lifetime of 90 years.

Natural England
assessed

Our scheme has been formally reviewed and confirmed suitable for use by LPAs in Appropriate Assessments across England.

Built on decades of
industry experience

We've provided nutrient credits in Norfolk and we're now rolling out to the rest of the UK. With decades of industry experience, we've designed a robust solution that works for developers.

Complete transparency

Buy compliant nutrient credits quickly with our automated platform, ensuring spatial compliance, regulatory approval, auditable documentation, and transparency.

Purchase nutrient mitigation credits through our website

Check availability here

Create an account on our platform

Set up an account on our digital platform to manage your site, track credits, and access planning documentation in one place.

Check credit availability

Instantly view whether nutrient credits are available in your catchment area, matched to your development’s location.

Secure credits – or let us activate them

If credits are available, purchase them directly through the platform. If not, our system identifies potential upgrade sites and we initiate the process to generate new credits quickly.

Download documentation for planning

Once credits are secured, download your Shadow HRA and Credit Certificate for submission with your planning application.

Why are STS credits different?

There are many nutrient mitigation providers, but we make the process simple. We provide nutrient credits through the installation and maintenance of septic tanks at scale, rather than selling agricultural land.

This approach gives us flexibility, as we have a bank of credits readily available, and offers a lasting solution to prevent nutrient pollution and meet development lifetime requirements.

Guaranteed compliance,
even if circumstances change

To safeguard the long-term integrity of every credit, STS operates a Redundancy Bank –  a reserve of additional mitigation sites held outside of commercial allocations. If an active credit site becomes compromised or non-compliant, a redundant site is automatically substituted to maintain full regulatory coverage.

This ensures developers, planners, and LPAs can rely on credits issued through our platform  – not just at the point of application, but throughout the lifecycle of the planning condition.

Auto-substitution

If a mitigation site fails or becomes inaccessible, a redundant site is automatically assigned to maintain compliance – with no action required from you.

Planning-safe

Our redundancy model meets LPA and Natural England expectations for fallback measures, protecting your permission from future risk.

Built-in security

Redundancy is not optional – it’s embedded into every credit we issue, tracked through our platform from day one.

Explore our nutrient mitigation platform

Meeting spatial & temporal requirements

We ensure mitigation is delivered in the right place, at the right time. Each credit is tied to a specific upgrade location and installation timeline, in line with Natural England guidance and LPA expectations. Our scheduling process accounts for 8-week and 6-month testing, followed by ongoing maintenance – all tracked in our platform.

Spatial compliance

Every nutrient credit is linked to a defined location within the same catchment as your development. This ensures the mitigation effect is geographically relevant – supporting lawful and effective offsetting.

Temporal integrity

Credits are only released once mitigation is in place and verified through testing. We maintain strict delivery timelines to ensure nutrient reductions are active before any new development begins impacting the environment.

Supporting you through the planning process

We work directly with planning consultants and developers to provide the documentation and technical detail required for shadow HRAs, Appropriate Assessments, and developer submissions. Our team understands how to align with policy, respond to consultee feedback, and deliver fast, practical responses to planning conditions.

Ready to discuss
your site?

Credit availability is limited by catchment and installation timeline. Speak to our team to check your site's eligibility, expected lead time, and indicative costs.

Speak to the team

FAQs

What is nutrient neutrality?

Nutrient neutrality is designed to prevent excess nitrates and phosphates entering rivers, wetlands and coastal waters, which could affect protected habitats. In affected catchment areas, local planning authorities must demonstrate nutrient neutrality as part of the Habitats Regulations Assessment before granting permission. This places the responsibility on developers to address nutrient pollution arising from wastewater from new housing development.

Our nutrient mitigation scheme provides a compliant route forward by offsetting nutrient loading through nutrient mitigation projects, using accepted nutrient neutrality methodology and upgrades to existing rural wastewater systems.

Why is nutrient neutrality necessary?

Nutrient pollution is released into freshwater and coastal environments from multiple sources. Without suitable mitigation measures, this pollution can harm designated habitats and undermine nature recovery.

Nutrient neutrality is necessary to protect water quality, achieve nutrient neutral development, and comply with legal requirements under habitats regulations, with oversight from local planning authorities, Natural England and the Environment Agency. Nutrient mitigation credits offset nutrient pollution and support sustainable development, allowing work to proceed while managing environmental impact.

How does nutrient mitigation work?

Nutrient mitigation works by offsetting additional nutrient pollution associated with development. Nutrient credits are created on an offset per year basis, measured in units of kilograms per year, using established nutrient neutrality advice and calculation methodologies.

Developers operating in affected catchment areas must secure nutrient mitigation credits as part of their mitigation strategy, either through nutrient offset markets or approved nutrient mitigation schemes, to ensure development achieves nutrient neutrality and does not increase nutrient loading in vulnerable rivers and protected sites.

Need help?

If you have any further questions or need professional assistance, don't hesitate to contact us.