Nutrient Credits

Option 1: Standard Terms – Most Common

• 10% non-refundable deposit upon credit reservation
• Up to 90% balance due on commencement

Minimal upfront exposure protects your project if planning is refused.

Deferred Payment – Large Outline Applications

• 10% non-refundable deposit upon credit reservation
• Balance payment deferred until Reserved Matters approval or closer to commencement

Designed for strategic allocations or outline permissions where construction commencement is years away. Improves cash flow management across long planning horizons.

Option 3: Upfront Payment

• Full payment upon credit reservation
• Potential discount for immediate settlement – discuss with WCI Nutrient Neutrality team

Suitable for funded developments seeking maximum cost certainty and potential pricing benefits.

Option 4: Bespoke Terms (Complex Developments)

• Custom payment structures for phased developments, land promotions, or unusual circumstances

Every project is different. Speak to our Nutrient Neutrality team to structure commercial terms that align with your specific planning and funding timeline.

Temporary phosphate offsetting for developments where permanent solution timing remains uncertain.

Useful for:

Outline permissions where construction timing is uncertain
Developments where on-site mitigation may become viable in future
Strategic allocations with long build-out programmes

WCI is uniquely positioned to deliver nutrient neutrality solutions. Our Consulting Engineers have produced more than 500 NNAMS reports and have a thorough understanding of development, planning and the regulatory environment. Our construction division has been installing sewage treatment plants for over 40 years. Our British Water-accredited Service Engineers are qualified to commission and maintain the treatment plants that generate our credits. And our balance sheet means we can deliver on our promises. We are a single source of expertise across the full nutrient neutrality process – from calculation to credit generation to monitoring.

Payment terms depend on how and when you purchase credits:

If you have secured your credits via a Reservation Notice prior to a planning decision, a 10% non-refundable deposit is due upfront, with the balance typically payable on planning approval. For large outline planning applications, payments are often deferred until closer to commencement.

If you purchase credits after planning approval has been granted, full payment is due on agreement of the purchase.

Please refer to the contract issued at the time of purchase for full payment terms.

Yes. WCI has bridging credits available across all of the catchments in which we operate. Contact our Nutrient Neutrality team to discuss eligibility and availability for your development.

Bridging credits are temporary phosphate credits that can be used to cover the difference between a development’s phosphate balance immediately after planning and its expected long-term balance. They are a tool to allow development to proceed while permanent mitigation is being put in place.

Somerset Council maintains a dedicated webpage listing approved third-party phosphate mitigation schemes in the Somerset Levels and Moors catchment area. WCI is listed as an approved scheme provider. You can verify this at somerset.gov.uk.

Yes. WCI holds P-Credits that are immediately available in the River Axe (Somerset), River Brue, River Parrett and River Tone catchments. Contact our Nutrient Neutrality team to confirm availability and discuss your requirements.

Our credits are priced competitively and tailored to your specific requirement. Please contact us with your development details and catchment area and we will provide a bespoke quote. We do not publish a standard per-credit rate as prices reflect scheme-specific factors.

WCI carries out all phosphate calculations as part of the NNAMS process. There are several recognised methodologies – including the Royal Haskoning method used by many LPAs and the Ricardo method promoted by Natural England. WCI uses the methodology approved by Somerset Council for use in the Somerset Levels and Moors catchment, ensuring your mitigation is accepted without challenge.

If your development is located within a phosphate-sensitive river catchment and the planning authority requires proof of nutrient neutrality, you will need to demonstrate that the phosphorus load your development generates will be offset. P-Credits are frequently the most practical and cost-effective way to achieve this, and can be secured quickly compared with on-site mitigation measures. WCI’s NNAMS report will confirm whether P-Credits are necessary and, if so, how many you need.

Phosphate credits, often referred to as P-Credits, are a type of off-site environmental mitigation that developers can purchase to make their developments nutrient neutral where the relevant planning policy applies. Each P-Credit represents a measurable reduction in phosphorus loading achieved elsewhere in the same river catchment – for example, by upgrading a failing septic tank to a sewage treatment plant capable of removing phosphate to a much higher standard. By purchasing credits equivalent to their development’s phosphorus impact, developers can demonstrate phosphate neutrality to their LPA.