# The Nature Restoration Levy Regulations 2026, Regulation 31: Refund of overpayments


(1) Natural England must repay an overpayment of the levy as soon as practicable after the overpayment comes, or is brought, to its attention.
(2) The levy is overpaid where—
(a) a liable person has discharged their liability to pay the levy, and
(b) the outstanding levy amount is less than zero.
(3) But paragraph (1) does not apply if—
(a) Natural England is satisfied that the amount of the overpayment is less than the reasonable administrative costs which it would incur in repaying the overpayment,
(b) the overpayment does not come, or is not brought, to Natural England’s attention before the end of the period of 10 years beginning with the day on which the overpayment was made, or
(c) the overpayment is as the result of—
(i) a recalculation following a notification under regulation 25 (material change in development), or
(ii) a transfer of payments between developments following a request made under regulation 29.
(4) Where paragraph (3)(b) or (c) applies, Natural England may repay the overpayment of the levy if it considers it appropriate to do so.
(5) Where more than one person has made payments against the levy amount, repayment of an overpayment must be made—
(a) to the person who made the last such payment, to an amount not exceeding that payment, and
(b) if there remains an amount of overpayment, to the person who made the next such payment, to an amount not exceeding that payment,
and so on until no amount of overpayment remains.
(6) Where a person is entitled to a repayment under paragraph (1), Natural England must pay that person an additional amount by way of interest on the repayment—
(a) calculated from the date on which the person made the overpayment;
(b) at a rate which is the higher of—
(i) 0.5% per annum, or
(ii) a percentage per annum equal to the Bank of England base rate less one percentage point.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2026/9780348284379/regulation/31 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/draft-nature-restoration-levy-regulations-2026/regulation-31
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.