Barn owls: survey licence for development projects (CL29)
Register for a licence to survey barn owls to assess the effect of a development project on them.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This licence allows you to disturb barn owls to survey them by observation to assess what effect a development project could have on them. You can survey for barn owl:
- presence or absence
- distribution
There’s no limit to the number of barn owls that you may disturb, as long as you meet all the terms and conditions in licence CL29.
You must minimise disturbance to barn owls and other wild birds or anything that might endanger their breeding success.
You must apply for a permit from the British Trust for Ornithology to do:
- scientific research
- conservation work
- ringing or marking
- nest recording
Register with Natural England
You must register with Natural England before you can use this licence.
Register for a class licence to survey barn owls
Natural England will confirm your registration in writing, usually within 30 working days. You must not carry out any licensed activities until you receive written confirmation of your registration.
What you need to pay
You must pay for a CL29 licence. There are no exemptions.
It costs £104 to register for a new CL29 licence.
It costs £35 a year to continue your registration.
How to pay
You can pay using a bank card. Follow the GOV.UK Pay link on the registration form or survey licence return form.
Read the terms and conditions for paying for a wildlife licence.
Report actions taken under this licence
You must use the barn owl survey licence return form to report any actions taken under this licence. You must report your actions between 1 and 31 January each year, even if you’ve taken no action or did not find the target species.
If you need to submit it outside these dates (for exceptional reasons only), email wildlife.scicons@naturalengland.org.uk.
You must list all surveys carried out under this licence. For each survey, you must record:
- survey location (site name, county, site description, 10 figure Ordnance Survey grid reference)
- number of barn owls present (and lifecycle stage, if known)
- breeding status (if known)
You’ll also need to give:
- your licence details
- the names of accredited agents who worked under your licence
- whether you followed best practice when using the licence
- details of any welfare concerns
Submit a barn owl survey licence return
You must also send your results to the Local Record Centre. You can do this by recording your results on the iRecord website or contacting your Local Record Centre.
Using your licence for another year
By reporting your actions, you can continue to use the licence for the following reporting period. You will need to pay £35 to do this.
Get help
If you need help with registering for a class licence or completing your survey licence return form, contact wildlife.scicons@naturalengland.org.uk.
Updates to this page
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Updated the licence to cover the period 1 January to 31 December 2026. Additionally, the process for submitting a survey licence return has changed and a new online form has been added to the page.
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Updated licence charge.
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Added a link to the updated 'Apply for a class licence to survey protected species' form.
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We are currently making improvements to our licensing forms. The register for a class licence form on this page will change to a new format in early March 2025. Once this happens, the current version of the form will no longer be available.
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Updated this licence to cover the period 1 January to 31 December 2025. Reworded several sections to make the information clearer, including licence notes a and b. Updated the 'Avian influenza' information and advice note.
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There is an update to this licence for 1 January 2024.
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Annual licence update, valid from 1 January 2023.
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Page updated: You should only complete and submit a survey return form between 1 and 31 January. If you need to submit it outside these dates (for exceptional reasons only) email wildlife.scicons@naturalengland.org.uk
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Changes to this page include the: - annual licence update, valid from 1 January 2022 - replacement of the PDF form for an accessible online form to submit survey returns - addition of information about the £35 fee to continue your registration which comes into effect in January 2022
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From 1 October 2021, you will need to pay £60 to register for this licence.
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Annual licence update.
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Accessible version of the licence added - HTML.
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Replaced licence with new version issued 1 January 2020
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Replaced licence with new version issued 1 January 2019
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Replaced licence with new version issued 1 January 2018
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Annual licence update 2017.
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Replaced licence with new version issued 1 January 2016.
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First published.