Environmental impact assessment

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process used to determine the environmental consequences of a development before planning permission is granted. 

The process involves determining whether an EIA is required for the project and deciding which issues should be assessed, before completing the assessment process. EIAs can be carried out by specialist consultants on behalf of the applicant.

This section provides further details about the EIA process and the EIA Regulations 2017, but it should be noted that the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, which received royal assent on 26 October 2023, replaces EIAs with Environmental Outcomes Reports. This new system will take time to implement, as it will require new regulations as well as associated guidance for practitioners. This is addressed later in this section. 

This section is maintained by Nicola Hartley of Arcadis.

Feature: Ecological surveys: avoiding development delays

RICS journal article: Getting your Environmental Impact Assessment right

RICS standards: Environmental risks and global real estate