Southwest
Environmental LimitedSouthwest
Environmental Limited| London |
| 02076 920 670 |
| Exeter |
| 01392 927 961 |
| Manchester |
| 01612 970 026 |
| Bristol |
| 01173 270 092 |
If your development is caught up in the Somerset, Cornwall, Wales, Sussex Phosphate Embargo then we may be able to offer a solution to help you get moving again.
Bottom Line: Price of Phosphate Credits
Cost of Phosphate Credits per House will vary depending on location. Please follow link to the right to see our handy list.
New: View a Map of Nutrient Neutrality Affected Areas
Whilst we do not pretend to be the quick or inexpensive in our delivery of phosphate credits, there are now others entering the market who are less scrupulous. If you are intending on buying Phosphate Credits then we would suggest you ask the following questions to the supplier:
For example if you were to pay a deposit on Phosphate Credits (and for some this could be over £100,000), how long before you can actually submit evidence of completedd active credit scheme to planning authroty?
Cost of Credits by Region
Based on a estimated price of £55,000 per kg. We have estimated costs per dwelling (2.4 persons / 110 liters water use) by these example regions:
Which ever catchment you are in please fill in the the form below, and we will keep you updated with current credit balances, phosphate credits prices, new projects and registrations.
You can register an interest for selling or buying phosphate credits in he following catchments: Camel, Parrett, Tone, Brue, Avon, Dart, Axe, Teifi (Taffy), Tywi, Cleddau, Eden, Stour, Clun, Lugg. Please enter any other catchment that isn't listed her.
Phosphate Credits are effectively a Phosphates Offset, where by you can create extra Phosphate in one place, because you have Reduced Phosphate Emissions Elsewhere.
If you are a developer, or land owner and would like to register and interest please visit the then registering an interest with a Phosphate Credit Market Provider such as Southwest Environmental Limited can help your project move forward.
Below are details of the Phosphate Credits that we have for sale. Pending approval.
We have 1.58kg of Phosphate Credits for Sale. Pending approval. These relate to the Parrett Catchment.
1.58kg will offset:
Above number based on houses or flats connected to Taunton STW. For other location served by smaller less modern STW, number of properties offset would be much less for example 1.58kg of offset used in Castle Cary, might only offset 3 dwellings.
We are in discussion with a land owner (current phosphate source) to create a Phosphate Credits system, for the Camel Catchment. This scheme is currently being scrutinised via Natural England and will yield approximately 7.5kg of Phosphate Credits.
Since November 2020 we have submitted dozens of Phosphate Mitigation Reports for sites in affected areas. However, to this date we have only seen 3 of these reports "passed off" the rest are stuck in Limbo, with Planners, Ecologists and Natural England failing to make decisions one way or the other. Hopefully this will change but any Phosphate Credits schemes that we aim to implement on your behalf will very likely end up stuck in the same back log.
But! Have faith, we are a strongly evidenced approach to delivering Phosphate Credits, that's why are fairly certain will work. Because numerically and conceptually there is no reason why it should not be accepted. But as with others we have not had the OK from Planners, Ecologists or Natural England . . . and that is why Possibly.
If you are build a block of flats in a town centre, then you will likely have to choose an off-site mitigation scheme. This will require an area of land to be purchased or leased, and then a wetland scheme can be created and maintained for the lifetime of the development.
Wetland schemes take up the least land area. For example a block of flats containing 9 units might require a 500m2 wetland.
The land on which the Wetland Phosphate Credits are created will have to be within the affected catchment. So for example if you are based in Taunton then you would need to find a land area within the Parrett Catchment. If you were based in Dunmere (Cornwall) you would need to find a land area within the Camel Catchment.
A scheme such as this is very much linked to the value of the land it uses up, and the cost of "building" the wetland is also significant. You might be lucky to buy Phosphate Credits for £5000 per Dwelling, although larger schemes might prove to be more cost affective.
Woodland is easier to create than wetland, but based on current Phosphate Calculators it takes up a lot more space. For 2 dwellings you might require in the region of 0.6 hectares of woodland. The land cost alone is very high.
However, if you do have the resources to create woodland, then as well as creating Phosphate Credits, you will create Carbon Credits. At present these are worth a minimum of £7000 a hectare. But are predicted to rise to 6 or 8 times this level over the next decade, to come incline with Carbon Pricing Indices of Approx. £86 per ton.
One idea that we are experimenting with is a Phosphate Swap, in order to create a Phosphate Credit. In affect we "clean up" one source of Phosphate (farm run off / old septic tank), and create a negative Phosphate Emissions that we can apply to a positive one.
This is no doubt what the large water comapnies intend to do. Large Regional Water Companies (occupying areas of the South West and Wessex for example) will charge people for Phosphate Credits and use the money to improve their sewage treatment works. This is a ironic / very frustrating as it is likely owing to the lack of treatment from large STWs that we have a Phosphate Problem in the first place.
The cost of Phosphate Swap Credits, would vary depending on which sewage treatment works you connect to. Taunton Works for example emits less Phosphate per capita, than some of the smaller low tech works.
For example 1 kg of Phosphate Credits would Offset 2 Dwellings in Bridgewater, but 10 dwellings in Taunton.
We are fairly certain we can arrange Phosphate Credits at a fixed price per range from 55,000 upwards KG. But how long it will take to do so . . . that is anyone's guess at the moment. These Phosphate Credits schemes will have to be approved by Natural England, County Ecologists, and Planners.
Taunton & West Somerset Council have suggested a price of £55,000, per kg credit as of November 2022. Based on this a dwelling in Taunton would require £5,500 worth of credits (0.1kgP) and a dwelling in Somerton would require £22,000 worth of credits (0.5kgP)
The cost of a Phosphate Credits will differ depending on how well you local sewage work treats the sewage, and also what sort of offsetting scheme you are buying from.
Whilst we cannot comment of the type of scheme until it is established we can make estimates on costs to but phosphate credits for 1 house, based the estimate costs of Credits (£55,000kg/P), and the consented discharge rate for your local sewage works.
If you are on private drainage, then things are quite different.
Below are indicative pricing for Phosphate Credits if you are in Somerset, and you project drains in to Somerset Levels and Moors SSSI Catchment. Look up your local sewage works (Wessex). These have changed a bit, but most have gone down.
If your local sewage works in consented at 0.9mg/l then it is shown in the list below. You will pay approximately £5,500 to buy 1kg of phosphate credits for 1 dwelling:
If your local sewage works in consented at 1.8mg/l then it is shown in the list below. You will pay approximately £11,000 to but phosphate credits for 1 dwelling:
If your local sewage works in not shown above it is very likely consented at 5.0 mg/l. You will pay approximately £22,500 to buy phosphate credits for 1 dwelling. Settlements that will pay the highest rate:
Below are Indicative Prices per dwelling (house) in the Hampshire Avon Catchment.
If your local sewage works in consented at 1.0 mg/l then it is shown in the list below. You will pay approximately £5,500 to buy phosphate credits for 1 dwelling:
If your local sewage works in consented at 8.0 mg/l then it is shown in the list below. You will pay approximately £46,000 to buy credits for 1 dwelling:
All sewage works in Carmarthenshire are consented at 8.0 mg/l. You will pay approximately £46,000 to buy phosphate credits for 1 dwelling, based on the estimate price of £55,000 kg/P. Look Up your local sewage works (Welsh Water)
If you would like to talk about this further then please do contact us (01173 270 092 or swenviro+bristol@gmail.com ).
With regards to long-term enforcement, what we need urgently is a database where all of these efficiency, and offsetting schemes can be recorded. If this doesn't happen then enforcers will have quite a job, finding these schemes let alone checking them.
The Woodland Carbon Code use IHS Markit for their registry keeping (or did do up until a couple of years ago), they (IHS) may be able to offer a solution. Current record for oldest website (and these don't have databases) is c. 30 years. I would imagine main failure point on enforcement is lack of centralised very long-term web database, that will survive changes of government, district / unitary splits merges / server upgrades / corporate closures etc.
In the absence of such a public registry for nutrient credits we have now set one up ourselves, you can see this on the Nutrient Credits Limited Website
The below section was written by a machine.
Phosphate credits are the primary mechanism for enabling development in catchments where excessive phosphorus levels are impacting protected Ramsar sites and SACs. Achieving "Nutrient Neutrality" is no longer an optional sustainability goal but a technical prerequisite for securing planning permission in areas like the Somerset Levels and the River Wye.
Reflecting on water quality management from twenty years ago, the regulatory focus was primarily on broad-scale industrial discharge and basic agricultural runoff guidelines. Today, the situation has shifted to a precise, unit-based nutrient accounting model. We have moved from generalized protection to a system where every kilogram of phosphorus must be accounted for and offset. The technical hurdle has moved from simple sewer connection checks to the engineering of multi-stage wetlands and complex fallowing agreements. Modern developments must now navigate a market of phosphate credits that did not exist two decades ago, requiring a deep understanding of hydrological modeling and long-term land management.
To satisfy Local Planning Authorities and Natural England, developers must demonstrate that their project will result in zero net increase in phosphorus loading. Technical options include:
Calculating a phosphate budget requires rigorous data and professional sign-off. Failure to provide accurate nutrient accounting can lead to indefinite planning embargoes. By integrating technical evidence from Flood Risk Assessments and Biodiversity Net Gain strategies, we ensure that phosphate mitigation is not just a hurdle but an engineered part of the development's success.
At Southwest Environmental Limited (SWEL), we provide the technical authority required to navigate these complex catchments. With over 15 years of experience and 900+ projects completed across the UK, our professional accreditation (BIAC/IES) and multi-disciplinary approach ensure your project satisfies the stringent requirements of Nutrient Neutrality.