Countryside Stewardship Scheme: Tiers, Eligibility, and Claims

The Countryside Stewardship scheme is Defra’s agri-environment programme that pays farmers and land managers in England to carry out environmental work on their land, from hedgerow planting and habitat restoration to water quality improvements and protection of historic features.¹ Payments compensate for the income you give up or the costs you take on when managing land for environmental benefit rather than maximum production. In 2026 the scheme is only partly open to new entrants, and which parts you can access depends on your land and whether you already hold an agreement.

What Is Open in 2026

Countryside Stewardship is not a single door that is either open or closed. Different parts are at different stages.

The redesigned Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) opened in September 2025 and is accepting applications on a rolling, invitation-only basis.² Capital grants remain available as standalone funding for one-off infrastructure projects.³ Mid Tier is no longer open to new applications. The government has offered one-year extensions to more than 5,000 farmers whose Mid Tier agreements were due to expire, bridging them until the newer Environmental Land Management schemes are fully in place.

If you already hold a Mid Tier or older Higher Tier agreement, it continues under its original terms. You still need to submit an annual revenue claim by 15 May, keep records, and comply with your agreement conditions.

The Tiers and Grants

Higher Tier

The redesigned CSHT targets England’s most environmentally significant land: Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Special Areas of Conservation, ancient woodland sites, priority habitats such as species-rich grassland and heathland, and undesignated historic parklands at risk.⁴ Agreements are tailored to each site, which is why Natural England or the Forestry Commission works directly with each applicant before an application can be submitted.

You cannot simply apply on your own. Groups of farmers and land managers are invited on a rolling monthly basis, with priority given to those who previously held Higher Tier or Higher Level Stewardship agreements. If you have never held a Higher Tier agreement, you are unlikely to sit in the current priority groups. Once invited, a Natural England adviser or Forestry Commission woodland officer helps you identify suitable actions and capital items, and you must agree these before submitting.⁵ Most Higher Tier management options run for five years, though some can last ten or twenty years depending on the habitat.⁴

Mid Tier and Wildlife Offers (Existing Agreements Only)

Mid Tier agreements were five-year commitments focused on widespread environmental improvements: bird seed mixes, nectar plots for pollinators, and nesting habitats for farmland birds. Wildlife Offers sat inside Mid Tier as a simpler, non-competitive route that let smaller farms pick from a focused set of habitat options.⁶ No new Mid Tier applications are being accepted, but thousands of live agreements continue. If yours is nearing its end date, check whether a one-year extension has been offered to your business.

Capital Grants

Capital grants fund one-off infrastructure work: hedgerow planting, stone wall restoration, water pollution prevention, fencing, and similar physical projects. Agreements last a maximum of three years, during which all work must be completed. After that, you must keep everything you built or installed in the agreed condition for five years from the agreement start date.⁷ Capital grants can be standalone or run alongside an existing SFI, Countryside Stewardship, or Higher Level Stewardship agreement.³

Who Can Apply

The core requirement across every tier is management control. You must have control of all the land and all the activities needed to meet your agreement’s requirements for the full agreement period. If you don’t have full control yourself, you need written consent from everyone else who does, covering the entire duration. Tenants face an extra layer: security of tenure for the full agreement period and the ability to carry out every management activity the agreement requires.⁴

Every applicant needs a Single Business Identifier (SBI), a unique nine-digit number assigned to your farm business.⁸ All land parcels you want to include must be registered in the Rural Payments service and linked to your SBI.⁴ Getting registrations right before you apply is one of the most overlooked steps, and it’s where a lot of applications hit delays.

Eligible land covers most agricultural areas such as permanent grassland and arable land, along with certain woodland and coastal habitats. Land designated as an SSSI often qualifies specifically for Higher Tier options because of its ecological importance.⁴

How to Apply

Start by confirming your SBI and checking that every land parcel you want to include is correctly registered in the Rural Payments service. If boundaries have changed or permanent features have been added or removed, you need to submit an RLE1 form to update the official digital maps. Each change requires a sketch map showing the new boundary or feature.⁹ Hedgerows going into certain Countryside Stewardship options also need to be mapped this way if they don’t already appear in the service.¹⁰

For revenue agreements, you choose management options using assigned codes and match them to the right land parcels. GS2, for example, covers permanent grassland with very low inputs, and you would need to demonstrate that your land meets the eligibility criteria using the permanent grassland assessment form.¹¹ Capital items have their own codes and must be mapped to specific locations on your holding.

Higher Tier applications require far more preparation. You cannot submit one without first receiving pre-application advice from Natural England, the Forestry Commission, or Historic England, depending on the features on your land. Detailed management plans for woodland restoration or historic feature preservation are expected, and baseline photographs help establish a starting point for measuring progress.⁵

Applications go in through the Rural Payments online portal, with a digital declaration confirming the information is accurate and that you will follow the scheme rules.¹² You receive a timestamped confirmation reference, and the Rural Payments Agency reviews the application for eligibility and land use conflicts before issuing a formal offer. Successful applicants must accept the agreement through the portal or by returning a signed acceptance form.

The 15 May Annual Revenue Claim

If you hold an active revenue agreement, you need to submit an annual declaration each year to get paid. For 2026 the claim window is open, and the deadline to submit without any payment reduction is 11:59 pm on 15 May 2026.¹³ Before you submit, make sure your land use codes are updated in the Rural Payments service.

If nothing has changed from last year, an automated single-click submission is available. If you have changes or rotational options, you will need to update the relevant sections of your claim.¹³ Late submissions are accepted until 1 September 2026 but your payment will be reduced. Anything sent in after that date is likely to be rejected and may be treated as a breach of your agreement.

Running Countryside Stewardship Alongside SFI

You can hold both a Countryside Stewardship agreement and a Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement, within limits. Three conditions apply: your land must be eligible for both schemes, the activities must be compatible, and you cannot be paid twice for a similar activity on the same area of land at the same time.¹⁴

Each SFI action specifies which CS options it can sit alongside on the same land. In some cases, you can run both on the same parcel if the funded areas don’t overlap. Land in a CS capital grants agreement can generally go into an SFI agreement because the two fund different things.¹⁴ Farms with existing Environmental Land Management revenue agreements above 50 hectares may face restrictions on when they can apply for SFI26.¹⁵

Records, Site Visits, and Penalties

Record keeping is where compliance is won or lost. Keep a farm diary logging dates and details of management activities: mowing dates, grazing periods, organic manure applications, and any other actions required by your agreement options. These logs are your primary evidence if the Rural Payments Agency checks compliance.

For capital works the evidence bar is higher. You need photographs at different stages and on completion, each labelled with the land parcel reference, capital item code, and date. All invoices must be signed and dated by the contractor to confirm payment, and you may need bank statements or till receipts as additional proof. If you used your own labour or machinery, timesheets and schedules of works can substitute for receipts.¹⁶

All records and evidence must be retained for seven years from the date the agreement expires or is terminated.¹⁷ That is seven years from the end of the agreement, not from the date of the activity. For a five-year agreement, you could be holding records for a dozen years in total.

Site visits are carried out by Field Officers, who contact you beforehand and explain which scheme is being checked and what to have ready. They may ask for seed invoices, bank statements, proof of payment for capital items, or herd and flock records, and for livestock they physically check ear tags and passport records.¹⁸ Visits can still result in referrals for penalty action if the officer finds serious non-compliance.

If the Rural Payments Agency determines you have breached your agreement or provided false or misleading information, it can withhold or recover all or part of the grant money you have been paid. It can also charge interest on any recovered amount at one percent above the Bank of England base rate, running from the date it became entitled to recover the money until you pay it back. Recovery may be pursued as a formal debt or deducted from other payments due to you under the same or any other grant agreement. Before acting, the agency will generally give written notice and an opportunity to make representations, and disputes are resolved through the agency’s complaints procedure as set out in the terms and conditions and the relevant Countryside Stewardship manual.¹

A Note on Tax

Countryside Stewardship payments do not all receive the same tax treatment. Revenue payments for ongoing land management are generally treated as taxable farming income and should be included in your tax return. Capital grants for physical works such as fencing or hedging may be treated as capital receipts, which can be offset against the capital expenditure of the project. HMRC does not publish a single simplified guide on agri-environment grant taxation, so tailored advice from an accountant familiar with agricultural finances is the practical route.

1
GOV.UK. Countryside Stewardship Agreements Terms and Conditions 2023
2
GOV.UK. Countryside Stewardship
3
The Farming Blog. Capital Grants Now Open for Applications
4
Rural Payments Agency. Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier Manual
5
GOV.UK. CSHT Applicants Guide
6
GOV.UK. Applicants Guide Mid Tier and Wildlife Offers
7
GOV.UK. Agreement Holders Guide Capital Grants 2023
8
Environment Data. How Do I Find My Single Business Identifier SBI
9
Rural Payments Agency. How to Use the RLE1 Form
10
GOV.UK. Rural Land and Entitlements RLE1 Guidance 2022
11
GOV.UK. Permanent Grassland Assessment Form Countryside Stewardship
12
GOV.UK. Create an Annual Declaration for a Countryside Stewardship Revenue Claim
13
Rural Payments. Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship Revenue Claims Are Open for 2026
14
GOV.UK. SFI Scheme Information Re-Opened Offer for 2024
15
The Farming Blog. SFI26 Details Definitions and What to Expect
16
GOV.UK. Countryside Stewardship How to Complete the Capital Claim Form
17
GOV.UK. Countryside Stewardship Record Keeping and Inspection Requirements
18
Rural Payments. Top Tips for Farmers to Prepare for a Site Visit