Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) is aimed at important environmental or historic sites such as sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs), commons, woodlands and scheduled monuments, though it can also cover farmed land and land managed for nature.
What an agreement pays for
An agreement is made up of land management actions. There are 99 base actions and 33 supplemental actions, and you can only choose a supplemental action if you apply for an eligible base action in the same application. You can also apply for capital items, such as fencing or hedgerow planting, in the same application. The actions cover woodland and agroforestry, wetlands, coastal habitats, peat, moorland and grassland, waterbodies, flood risk, species recovery, public access and historic features.
Each action has its own payment rate and its own list of eligible land. The rates and eligibility for every action are in the Find funding for land or farms service, and they are the figures that apply to your agreement.
Most actions last 5 years. You are paid annually in quarterly instalments, and the first payment usually arrives in the fourth month after your agreement starts. Capital items are claimed separately after the work is done.
How you get into the scheme
For common land, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) contacts you when applications can be accepted.
You can submit more than one expression of interest, with a separate form for each topic and each site, but only one CSHT application can be in progress for each single business identifier (SBI).
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Check you and your land are eligible
You must be a farmer, forester or land manager, such as an owner-occupier, tenant, landlord or licensor, with management control of the land for the whole duration of each action you choose. You cannot be paid under CSHT for an activity already paid for by another agreement, for something the law already requires, or for a planning condition. If you receive delinked payments you can still apply, and an individual who took a Lump Sum Exit Scheme payment cannot apply for agricultural land unless they repay it.
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Get your Rural Payments account in order
You need a customer registration number, a registered business with an SBI, and your land parcels on your digital maps with the correct areas and land use. The person applying needs either Business Details Full permission or CS applications submit permission. An agent can apply for you if you give them one of those permissions.
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Get the groundwork the route requires
An agroforestry expression of interest needs a Forestry Commission approved agroforestry plan and trees already planted. A woodland improvement expression needs an approved woodland management plan, and any species management plan for actions such as deer or grey squirrel control. Species-rich grassland must meet every requirement of action CGS22. Scheduled monuments must be mapped on the MAGIC website.
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Take the pre-application advice
When Natural England invites you, confirm within 10 working days that you are ready to start. An adviser from Natural England or the Forestry Commission works with you to choose base actions, supplemental actions and capital items for your land. Your application may not progress if you do not follow their advice, so tell them about any other commitments on the land.
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Apply online
When the RPA invites you to apply, you complete four sections in the application service. You check your details, select the actions and capital items you agreed, select the land for each, then review and submit. Natural England or the Forestry Commission reviews your selections first and may ask you to amend or remove some. Reply to the invitation email to send your supporting maps and documents.
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Get the consents your actions need
Depending on the actions you chose, you may need SSSI consent, scheduled monument consent, planning permission, a wildlife licence, a felling licence, consent for work on protected trees, an environmental impact assessment screening decision, or Environment Agency permissions for work on or near watercourses. You must have them before you carry out the affected action, and you must keep the evidence. You are not paid under CSHT until you have SSSI consent where your land is an SSSI.
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Accept your offer within 10 working days
The RPA emails your agreement offer. You can accept or reject it but not ask for changes, and an offer you do not answer within 10 working days may be withdrawn. Your agreement usually starts on the first day of the month after you accept. Check the offer lists the actions, capital items and land parcels you agreed.
What you must keep doing
Once an agreement starts, you must complete the actions and capital items as set out in your agreement document, and meet its terms and conditions. You do not submit an annual claim, but you must submit an annual declaration, a simple online tick box form, confirming that you have complied or expect to comply. The RPA sets the due date within the last 2 months of each agreement year, and a late declaration can delay your fourth instalment or count as a breach.
You must complete capital works within 3 years of the agreement start, claim for them within 3 months after that period ends, and keep capital items in the specified condition for 5 years from the start. Where an action needs capital works first, such as fencing before grazing, complete them within the first 12 months.
The RPA checks compliance through site visits, remote monitoring using aerial and satellite imagery, and desk-based checks of evidence such as photographs, receipts and farm records. It normally arranges a site visit in advance, and gives at least 48 hours' notice unless it suspects serious breach or fraud. You must keep your evidence for at least 7 years from the end of your agreement, or its earlier termination.
If something happens that affects your ability to comply, tell the RPA in writing as soon as possible, preferably within 8 weeks of being able to. The RPA decides each case on its facts and may amend your agreement, reduce your payments, ask you to repay payments or end the agreement early. If you disagree with a decision, you have 60 calendar days to use the complaints procedure.
Legal basis
Primary legislation and key regulations
Read it on legislation.gov.uk (opens in a new tab) legislation.gov.ukOfficial guidance
CSHT agreement holder's guide (opens in a new tab)
Publication · GOV.UK · England
CSHT applicant's guide (opens in a new tab)
Publication · GOV.UK · England
CSHT guidance on GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)
Publication · DEFRA · England
Express interest in Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (opens in a new tab)
Form or Template · DEFRA · England