Capital Grants 2026: your complete application checklist

The 2026 round of Capital Grants is due to be released on Thursday 30 July. Defra will update its blog when Capital Grants are officially open.

Last year, the Capital Grants budget was allocated in just a handful of weeks, so it's essential that you have your application pre-prepared and apply promptly.

In this blog, we provide a checklist of important things to remember so your application for a Capital Grant goes smoothly. We also give a breakdown of the other five grants offered under the Countryside Stewardship scheme so you can see what else is on offer.

Capital Grants are one of the six offers that make up the Countryside Stewardship Capital grants scheme. Capital Grants are agreements to deliver and use capital items that have a specific benefit for the environment. They fall under six categories: boundaries, trees and orchards, air quality, water quality, assessments, improvements and natural flood management.

If you are awarded a Capital Grant, you will need to complete the capital works within three years, but the agreement with the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will last a minimum of five years from the point of signing. This is known as the ‘durability period’ and is the length of time that the capital item can only be used for its agreed purpose.

Here is a brief timeline of showing the process of applying for Capital Grant funding. There are few set dates, however, early preparation and application as soon as the scheme opens is strongly encouraged.

• Opening date: Thursday 30 July.
• Submission of evidence: Less than 10 days after application.
• Deadline to accept grant offer: 30 calendar days after application.
• Closing date: No set closing date; however, participants should aim to submit their applications as early as possible. In 2025, Capital Grants funding was fully allocated and applications were closed after five weeks.
• Receipt of funds: Capital Grants are reimbursed after the capital work is completed. Capital work should be completed within three years of the agreement start date.

Owner occupiers, tenants, landlords and licensors can all apply for Capital Grants for land that is under their management control for the timespan of the agreement.

To be eligible, land should be entirely within England with some exceptions. The land should not contain common land or shared grazing rights, developed land or hard standing. Only one eligible Capital Grants application per Single Business Identifier (SBI) will be accepted by the RPA in a calendar year.

Note that not all eligible applications will necessarily be successful. Funding is allocated on a first come, first served basis and applications will be closed when the budget is fully allocated.

Here you can find a list of important things to check before submitting your application, based on Defra and RPA blog posts and guidance. Each application will have different requirements. However, before you submit your application you should check that you:

1. Are registered with the RPA and your details up to date
2. Have mapped and labelled your land parcels and boundaries according to Defra’s guidance and indicated any changes
3. Have management control over the land for at least five years
4. Have checked you have sufficient funds to pay for all of your planned capital work in advance, using the RPA’s capital grant finder
5. Are not ‘double funding’ the same capital items using another public or private funding source; for example, obtaining both Capital Grants and Sustainable Farming Incentives (SFI) to manage one hedgerow
6. Have all the consents, permissions and permits that you need for the capital items you are applying for, as outlined in the capital grant finder

If you are applying for land that was previously in a Capital Grant agreement

You should make sure you have completed and been paid for all capital works in any land parcel included in your Capital Grants application, so the land is free for a new agreement.

If you are applying for a grant of more than £50,000

You should have a letter confirming your business has sufficient funds to pay the upfront costs of the capital works, printed on headed paper from a qualified accountant.

If you are a tenant farmer

1. You can apply for a Capital Grant, but you need the agreement of your landlord.
2. You should have at least three years left on your tenancy, or the countersignature of your landlord on your application.
3. You should have management control of the land for at least five years from the beginning of the grant application. This can be achieved in three ways:

• You have at least five years left on your tenancy
• You have less than five years on your tenancy but have received your landlord’s written consent for you to complete any capital works and maintain them for the 5-year period
• You have less than five years on your tenancy, but your landlord has committed to maintaining the capital items for the five-year period, by countersigning a Land Ownership and Control Form

If you are applying for capital items that require Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) support.

It will now not be possible to get CSF support within the application window. However, you will be able to apply for capital items that require CSF sign off if you have received CSF support since 1 July 2024.

If you are applying for capital items that may impact a scheduled monument

You should seek advice and possibly consent from Historic England in advance of your application.

Further consents, permissions and permits may be required before completing capital works. This will depend on the capital item you apply for, and its planned location. They may include, but are not limited to:

• Planning consent from local authorities
• Written consent from Natural England for work on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Consent can be acquired after a Capital Grant offer has been made
• An exemption or Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) waste permit from the Environment Agency

In addition to Capital Grants, there are five further offers under the Countryside Stewardship grants schemes that are open for application at any time of the year:

• Capital grants plans
• PA3 Woodland Management Plan
• Protection and Infrastructure grants
• Woodland Tree Health (WTH) grants
• Higher Tier Capital Grants

More details on the grants and their requirements can be found by following the links below. However, all Countryside Stewardship Capital grants require applicants to have five-year management control over the land in their application. They can also all be combined with other funding sources, including Environmental Land Management schemes, but each has specific rules against ‘double funding’.

Capital grants plans

Capital grants plans offer a one-off payment to create plans or studies to support other capital items or management actions. They can be used for common land.

PA3 Woodland Management Plan

The PA3 Woodland Management Plan grant offers a one-off payment to create a 10-year woodland management plan. It remains open throughout the year subject to sufficient budget.

Protection and Infrastructure grants

Protection and Infrastructure grants are for capital items that improve woodland management by improving access or help manage the impact of beavers.

Woodland Tree Health (WTH) grants

Woodland Tree Health (WTH) grants are offered to help restock or improve woodland after tree health problems. They cannot be used for capital works.

These grants are not competitive, and all eligible applications will be approved if there is sufficient budget.

Higher Tier Capital Grants

Higher Tier Capital Grants offer three-year agreements on a wide set of capital items. The items available are generally larger, more complex and more bespoke than the items funded through Capital Grants. Applications must be discussed with Natural England before submission.

Higher Tier Capital Grant can be used on common land, in contrast to Capital Grants.

Applications will close when all of the funds have been allocated.