Latest News

As you may well have seen, Capital Grants reopened on 3^rd July. However, they are now under tighter terms than in previous applications following the Spending Review.

The new Capital Grants are open to applications on a first come, first served basis. The Spending Review allocated £150 million for the Capital Grants Scheme, and the round of applications will close once the available funding has all been committed. A new round of applications is expected to open in 2026. The Rural Payments Agency will only accept one submitted application in a calendar year for each Single Business Identifier (SBI).

There are also new caps on the funding available for each item group. For the Air Quality, Natural Flood Management and Water Quality groups, there is a funding limit of £25,000 per application. For applications under the Boundaries, Trees and Orchards group, there is a funding limit of £35,000 per application. There is no funding limit for items in the Assessment or Improvement groups.

As before, Capital Grant items are available for any person who can improve management control of land, such as an owner-occupier, a tenant, a landlord or a licensor, if they are able to meet the obligations of the grant. The land does not need to be entered into Countryside Stewardship, Environmental Stewardship or Sustainable Farming Incentive to be eligible for a Capital Grant application. Certain items under the Water and Air Quality groups will require additional approval from the Catchment Sensitive Farming Advisor, which may require an officer to visit the farm to assess the improvement that the application will make to the land. It is also important to consider whether the grant item requires formal planning consent, and advice should be taken from your local planning authority to confirm this.

As previously, Capital Grants cannot be used to pay for any environmental management for which money is being received from grants from any other public body, nor to carry out legally binding obligations.

There are currently 78 Capital Grant items available which can be found on the Government website, along with their payment rates and an indication of which funding group each item falls into.

If you would like more information or to discuss making a grant application, please contact Emily.