Guidance

How to complete your online Capital Grants 2025 application

Updated 9 July 2025

Applies to England

This guidance explains how to complete your Capital Grants application using the Rural Payments service.

Applications for Capital Grants open on 3 July 2025. We will let you know on GOV.UK and social media when applications close. Keep up to date on GOV.UK by searching for Capital Grants and signing up to get emails when the page is updated.

Read the Capital Grants Applicant’s guide to understand the eligibility requirements of the scheme. Check your personal and business details are correct in the Rural Payments service before you start your application.

You can only submit one application per calendar year for each Single Business Identifier (SBI) you manage. Funding is not guaranteed even if an application has been submitted and is eligible.

We will aim to give reasonable notice of scheme closure, but this may not be possible. At the point of closure, we will not accept any further applications including those started but not yet submitted. Following closure of this round of the scheme, we will make further improvements to the scheme and expect to open a new round for farmers to secure more funding during 2026.

Read the information in this guide to help you complete your application. When it’s complete, you can confirm and submit it. 

You need to scan and email the supporting documents to the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) and include any evidence that needs submitting. Read the ‘Supporting documents and evidence’ section for more information.

1. Getting started 

Sign into the Rural Payments service and click ‘View business’. Scroll down the ‘Business overview’ screen and click ‘Countryside Stewardship applications’. 

If you cannot see the ‘Countryside Stewardship applications’ link, check that you have the correct permission level to create an application. For more information read the ‘Check your permission levels’ section. If you still cannot see the link after your permission level updates in the Rural Payments service, ‘sign out’ then ‘sign in’ again, to refresh your account. 

Use the Countryside Stewardship application screens to apply online for Capital Grants. 

There’s a ‘Help’ link on the screens that tells you step-by-step what to do on each screen. Click the Help link, then scroll down to the long list of blue links at the end of the Help window. Click the relevant Capital Grants link. 

You must also create a map to support your application. Read ‘Annex 1 - Supporting maps’.

2. Create your Capital Grants application 

On the Countryside Stewardship applications screen, click the button to ‘Apply for CS Capital Grants’. 

When your application is successfully created a ‘Successful’ message will appear. 

Scroll down the screen and click ‘Back’ to return to the previous screen where you can ‘open’ your application. Read the ’Open your application’ section. 

2.1 Open your application 

After successfully creating your application, you’ll see it in the ‘Countryside Stewardship applications’ screen with its own application number. The status will be ‘Application Created’. 

Click ‘Open’ to continue your application.

2.2 Add land parcels to your application 

You now need to add the land parcels you want to use for this application. 

Click ‘Edit your Application’ in the list. Then click ‘Parcels under agreement’. 

Click ‘Import parcels’ to open a window with a list of all the land parcels under your  SBI. 

The screen shows a list of all parcels associated with your SBI. The system shows the very latest live parcel information. If a land parcel is missing read the ‘Check and change’ section. 

You can add individual land parcels you want to include in your application. 

To add land to your application one at a time click ‘Add’ next to each land parcel you want to include. After adding a land parcel, the ‘Add’ button changes to’ Remove’. Click ‘Remove’ to remove parcels from your application. 

Or you can add all the land parcels in the list together by clicking ‘Import all parcels’. 

2.3 Check land parcel warnings 

After adding all the required land parcels to the application, you can check if they are included in another application or agreement. 

To check if they are in a live agreement, ‘View and print your Parcels under agreement warnings report’. 

To check whether they’re in another application, click ‘Check Parcels’, and a new column will appear for ‘Parcel Availability’ if: 

• the land parcel is not in another application a tick will show next to the relevant land parcel details
• any land parcel is already in another type of application, a ‘Warning’ button will appear for that land parcel. You must remove all land parcels with warnings, (as explained later in this section)

Your list of land parcels may extend over 2 or more pages depending on the number of land parcels you have. The number of pages of land parcels shows at the bottom of the list. Click the single arrow to move to the next page of the list. 

If there are no warnings in the ‘Parcel availability’ column, and you want to use all the land parcels in the list in your application, click ‘Close’ to continue your application. 

Click ‘Remove’ to remove the land parcel from the application. Or click ‘Remove all parcels with warnings’ if you want to remove all land parcels together. 

A message will appear confirming that the land parcel is removed from the application. 

Click ‘Close’ to leave the land parcel screen. 

2.4 Progress to next stage of application 

You can now either continue to the next stage of your application or delete your application by using the buttons under ‘Make Manage your application’. 

Click ‘Delete’ – if you do not want to go ahead with your application at this point. You need to confirm that you want to delete the application. If you answer ‘Yes’, you’ll see a message confirming your application is successfully deleted. On the application screen, the status will be ‘Closed’. 

If you answer ‘No’, the status of your application will not change, and you can continue your application. 

If you delete your application, you can create a new one, but it must contain land parcels that are not already in use in another application or live agreement.

Click ‘Continue’ – if you want to move on to the next stage of your application, either: 

• a ‘successful’ message will appear - click ‘Back’ to continue your application 
• a ‘failed’ message will appear 

A ‘failed’ message means your application cannot move to the next stage as there is an issue with the land parcels selected. You may not have selected any land parcels or there may be issues with ones you have selected. This may also happen if you did not check for warnings earlier in your application. 

It is important that you read the onscreen message as it will tell you why your application has failed to progress. 

Scroll down the screen to click ‘Back’.

Open the application again and remove any land parcels with warnings and any listed in your ‘Parcels under agreement warnings report’ Or add some land parcels if none have been added.

3. Edit your application 

After adding the land parcels to your application, ‘Open’ your application again on the Countryside Stewardship applications screen. 

Using the list on your screen, you can add details to your online application using ‘Edit your application’ or use the other choices to create the land parcel warnings report again and application summary. 

Click ‘Edit your Application’. 

A list of everything you need to do in your application appears.

3.1 Add an agreement name 

To make it easier for you to identify the agreement, give your application a name. Enter a name into the box and then click ‘Save’ and ‘Close’ to return to the previous screen. You can use letters and numbers in the agreement name. 

3.2 Add capital items to your application

You can read about groups in the scheme guidance on GOV.UK. You’ll find a description and requirements for each capital item in grant finder.

If you exceed the funding thresholds for any group of items, you will not be able to submit your application. You should calculate the value of all items in a group and check they do not exceed the limit for that group before you apply.

3.3 Add capital items – Air quality 

You can apply for: 

• items on your land in this application that aim to improve air quality 
• a ‘supplement’ item if you have applied for the main item it relates to, for example TE5 can only be used with TE4 or agroforestry items AF1 and AF2
• a funding limit of £25,000 for this group in one application

Some air quality items must have support from Catchment Sensitive Farming. Read the Capital Grants Applicant’s guide for more information.

Click ‘Capital – Air quality’ 

This screen lists all the capital items you can include under this group in your application. 

To apply for an item, click ‘Open’ for the item code you want. 

This will open a new screen showing all the land parcels in your application. 

Add the number of units or trees, or for low emission flooring add the area (in hectares) for the item in each land parcel. 

For example, to add an area of 150m2 of low emission flooring to a land parcel, first ‘Open’ AQ2 at the previous screen, then enter the area as 0.015 hectares in this screen for the relevant land parcel. 

You must enter a whole number under ‘Applied for’. If you enter a number with decimal places, it automatically rounds up or down to the nearest whole number. ‘Applied for’ hectares – does not round up or down. 

Click ‘Save’ and then ‘Back’ to return to the Items menu. Repeat this for all the items you want to add to your application. Click ‘Close’ to return to the application menu.

3.4 Add capital items – Assessments

You can apply for items to create a wildfire checklist or assess the condition of woodland.

Click ‘Capital – Assessments’. 

This screen lists all the capital items you can include under this group in your application. 

To apply for an item, click ‘Open’ for the item code you want. For woodland condition assessment add the number of hectares. For wildfire checklist add ‘1’ in the ‘units’ box to apply against one parcel in your application. You do not need to add a unit number against every parcel in your application.

Click ‘Save’ and then ‘Back’ to return to the Items menu. Repeat this for all the items you want to add to your application. Click ‘Close’ to return to the application menu.

3.5 Add capital items – Boundaries, trees and orchards 

You can apply for: 

• items on a boundary around or within a land parcel in your application 
• a ‘supplement’ item if it relates to a main item on the same boundary
• BN8 – can only be used with BN5 and BN6 
• BN10 – can only be used with BN5 
• BN13 – can only be used with BN12 or BN16
• BN14 – can only be used with BN12 or BN16
• Both BN13 and BN14 can be used with BN12 or BN16
• a funding limit of £35,000 for this group in one application

Click ‘Capital - Boundaries, Trees and Orchards’. 

This screen lists all the capital items you can include under this group in your application. 

To apply for an item, click ‘Open’ for the item code you want. 

This opens a new screen showing all the land parcels in your application. 

Add the total length or number of units next to each land parcel you want to apply for. 

For example, to add 10m of stone-faced bank repair to a land parcel, first ‘Open’ BN1 at the previous screen, then enter the length in this screen for the relevant land parcel. 

You must enter a whole number under ‘Applied for’. If you enter a number with decimal places, it will automatically round up or down to the nearest whole number. For example, if you enter 10.5m it rounds to 11m in your application, or 10.4m rounds to 10m.

Click ‘Save’ and then ‘Back’ to return to the Items menu. Repeat this for all the items you want to add to your application. Click ‘Close’ to return to the application menu.

3.6 Add capital items – Improvements

You can apply for funding to carry out educational access visits on your farm or woodland.

Click ‘Capital – Improvements’ 

This screen lists VED1: Educational access visits.

To apply for an item, click ‘Open’ for VED1. Add 75 in the unit box as it defaults to the maximum number of visits you can claim (75). You do not have to complete and claim 75 visits. Click ‘Save’ and then ‘Back’ to return to the Items menu.

It will always default to 75, even if you apply for a different number of visits.

3.7 Add capital items – Natural flood management 

You can apply for:

• items to improve natural flood management
• a funding limit of £25,000 for this group in one application

You must have support from Catchment Sensitive Farming for natural flood management items. 

Click ‘Capital – Natural flood management’ 

This screen lists all the capital items you can include under this group in your application. 

To apply for an item, click ‘Open’ for the item code you want. 

Add the quantity for the number of units you want to apply for. This must be entered as a whole number with no decimal places. 

Click ‘Save’ and then ‘Back’ to return to the Items menu. Repeat this for all the items you want to add to your application. Click ‘Close’ to return to the application menu.

3.8 Add capital items – Water quality 

You can apply for: 

• items to improve water quality 
• a ‘supplement’ item if you have applied for the main item it relates to, for example FG4 can only be used with FG1, FG2 and FG3 
• a funding limit of £25,000 for this group in one application

Some water quality items must have support from Catchment Sensitive Farming. 

Click ‘Capital – Water quality’ 

This screen lists all the capital items you can include under this group in your application. 

To apply for an item, click ‘Open’ for the item code you want. 

This will open a new screen showing all the land parcels in your application. 

Add the length, volume or area (in metres, cubic metres or hectares) or the number of units (for example, biofilters, sheep pens) for the item in each land parcel. 

For example, to add 100m of fencing to a land parcel, first ‘Open’ FG1 at the previous screen, then enter the length in this screen for the relevant land parcel. 

You must enter a whole number under ‘Applied for’. If you enter a number with decimal places, it automatically rounds up or down to the nearest whole number. For example, if you enter 10.5m of fencing, this rounds to 11m in your application, or 10.4m rounds to 10m in your application. ‘Applied for’ hectares – does not round up or down. 

Click ‘Save’ and then ‘Back’ to return to the Items menu. Repeat this for all the items you want to add to your application. Click ‘Close’ to return to the application menu.

3.9 Scheme eligibility 

You must answer all the eligibility questions. Click ‘Scheme eligibility’ and answer each question with a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. 

You must answer all the questions accurately, as the answers are used to assess your eligibility. 

For more information about eligibility read section 3 ‘Who can apply and what land is eligible’ in the Applicant’s guide.

First question – you must be able to answer ‘Yes’ to confirm that you have management control throughout the duration of the agreement and durability period or the countersignature of your landlord. If you answer ‘No’, you must remove the land parcels which you do not have management control over, and the relevant items, from this application. 

Second question – you must be able to answer ‘Yes’ to confirm that you are not seeking funding in this application for the activities outlined in the question. If you answer ‘No’, because you cannot give the confirmation, you must remove the items from this application that provides this funding. 

The remaining questions are self-explanatory and must be completed before you can progress the application. 

Click ‘Save’ after you complete all the questions, you receive a message confirming the details have ‘saved’ successfully. If you have not answered a question, a message will appear in red asking you to answer it. 

After saving your answers, click ‘Close’ to return to the previous screen.

3.10 Update land parcels in your application 

Click ‘Update parcels under agreement’ to see all the land parcels you have added to the application. 

This is an opportunity to check which land parcels are in your application and change them if needed. 

Use the ‘Remove’ or ‘Add’ buttons as explained in the ‘Add land parcels to your application’ section. 

If you add different land parcels, remember to click ‘Check Parcels’ for warnings against your land parcels in another application. 

3.11 Declarations and undertakings 

You must complete this declaration, or you cannot submit your application. 

Read all the declarations and undertakings. Use the scroll bar at the side of the declaration to read it all. 

Then click ‘Yes’ to confirm that you accept the declarations and responsibilities, then click ‘Close’. 

You must create (generate and download) your application summary before submitting your application to RPA.

4. View and print documents 

Using the list on your screen, you can ‘View and Print’ details about your online application before you submit it. 

4.1 Application summary 

This summary shows the information you have entered into your application. It’s important that you use it to check the correct information is there, before you submit your application. Then if needed, you can go back into your application and change it. 

You will get another opportunity to create an application summary after submitting your application to RPA, to keep as a record.

Click ‘View and print your application summary’. 

Click ‘Generate’ to create the document. 

The first time you generate the document the ‘Download’ button will not be clearly visible. When the document is ready the ’Download’ button turns green, and the button will now always be visible. The date and time that appears next to the ‘Download’ button tells you when the document was last updated with the information in your application. 

After generating the document, click ‘Download’ to see the document. 

If you always click ‘Generate’ before you click ‘Download’, you’ll always see the most up to date information in your application. 

You can read the summary on screen by scrolling down the pages or you can print or save it for your records. Do this by using the buttons that appear when you place the cursor near the middle point at the bottom of the screen. 

Do not send it to us as a paper form – we cannot accept it. 

Remember to complete your supporting maps – read Annex 1.

4.2 Parcels under agreement warnings report 

This warnings report lists any land parcels that need removing from your application. This is because they are included in a live agreement or another application.

The report shows details of the agreement or application that the land parcels are currently included in, and the status of that agreement or application. For more information read ‘Check land parcel warnings’ in the ‘Complete’ section. 

If all the land parcels in your application are available to use, the report will not contain any information. 

Click ‘View and print the Parcel under Agreement warnings report’. 

To create your report, follow the instructions in the ‘Application summary’ section. 

You can read the report on screen by scrolling down the pages or you can print or save it for your records. Use the buttons that appear when you place the cursor near the middle point at the bottom of the screen. 

You must return to the land parcel screen to remove all the land parcels from your application that appear in the warnings report.

5. Confirm your information and submit your application 

To confirm the information in your application is correct, check it before you submit it online. 

5.1 Application summary 

When you complete your application, you need to check that the information in it is correct. To do this, create or update your application summary by following the instructions in the ‘View and print documents’ section. Then if needed, go back into your application and change it. 

5.2 Withdraw your application 

If you decide not to submit your application, click ‘Withdraw’. A message appears to check that you do want to withdraw the application. 

Click ‘No’ if you do not want to withdraw it. 

Click ‘Yes’ if you do want to withdraw it. You’ll see a screen message confirming that the application is withdrawn. This application will not be submitted to RPA, and you cannot open it again, but you can create a new application when the application buttons are available. 

Click ‘Back’ to return to the application screen (where the application status is now ‘Withdrawn’ and the application is no longer ‘Active’). 

5.3 Submit your application 

If you have checked your application summary and the information in your application is correct, click ‘Submit’ to apply for Capital Grants. 

If your application meets all the requirements for the grant and you have completed the declaration, the screen will confirm that your application has ‘submitted successfully’ to RPA. 

Click ‘Print’ if you want to print and keep the confirmation for your records. 

Click ‘Back’ to return to the application screen where the application status has changed to ‘Submitted’ and the application is still ‘Active’. It also shows the date and time your application was submitted. 

Read section ‘Supporting documents and evidence’ for information about submitting. 

5.4 Application fails to submit 

If your application fails to submit, a screen message will tell you this. It will show the reasons why it did not submit with a red warning box beside it. 

Read this message fully by using the scroll bar to the right of the message. To print the message, click the button on the right side of the ‘mouse’ or ‘touchpad’ and choosing the print or save options. 

Click ‘Back’ to return to the application screen. 

Check and correct all the sections detailed in the message before you ‘Submit’ your application again. 

The information below gives some examples of why you cannot submit your application. It will help you to identify what you need to do before you submit your application again.

5.5 Your application is below the minimum value allowed

You need to ‘Open’ your application from the Countryside Stewardship applications screen and click the relevant capital item groups under ‘Edit your Application’: 

• Capital – Air Quality
• Capital – Assessments
• Capital – Boundaries, Trees and Orchards
• Capital – Improvements
• Capital – Natural Flood Management 
• Capital – Water Quality

Then, if you have not selected any capital items, select all those you want to include in the application and click ‘Close’. 

5.6 Complete the Eligibility form

You must complete all responses on the Eligibility form.

From the Countryside Stewardship applications screen, ‘Open’ your application and click on ‘Scheme Eligibility’ under ‘Edit your Application’. Answer all the eligibility questions and click ‘Save’ then ‘Close’. 

5.7 Declarations and Undertakings

You must select ‘Yes’ in the Declarations section to proceed with your application.

From the Countryside Stewardship applications screen, ‘Open’ your application and click ‘Declarations and Undertakings’ under ‘Edit your Application’. Click ‘Yes’ to confirm that you accept the declaration then click ‘Close’.

6. After applying 

After submitting your application, return to the application screen where you will see an application ‘summary’ button beside your submitted application details. 

6.1 Application summary 

You may have already created this at the ‘Edit your application’ screen while completing your application. After completing your application ‘generate’ and ‘download’ again to make sure it contains everything in your application (see View and print documents section).

You can print or save your application summary and keep for your records. 

Read the ‘Supporting documents and evidence’ section for details about how to send your supporting documents and any evidence to submit to RPA. 

7. Supporting documents and evidence 

After submitting your online application, RPA must receive your supporting documents and any evidence needed within 10 days of the ‘Submit Date’ in the initial Countryside Stewardship applications screen. If you cannot submit them to reach RPA within the timeframe, you must tell RPA within 10 days why you cannot submit them. If we do not receive either, we will reject your application. You may need to keep some evidence until we ask for it. To check what evidence is needed, read the details for each item on grant finder. 

Examples of supporting documents:  

• application maps (read Annex 1)
• a land ownership control form (if required) 
• Catchment Sensitive Farming support (if required) 

7.1 Evidence 

You need to send some evidence to RPA or keep the evidence until asked for it. 

Read about the requirements for each item in grant finder. 

7.2 How to submit your supporting documents and evidence 

You can scan and email all the documents above to ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk. Use ‘Application – CS Capital Grants’ and your SBI as the email subject heading

You must put your SBI and agreement name in the email and on all documents you send us.

The maximum size of emails we can accept is 32MB.

Do not include links to cloud storage, for example Dropbox or Google Drive, as we cannot accept documents or evidence this way. 

For security reasons, we cannot accept discs, USB pen drives or other external storage media. 

You can send digital photos by email, but do not scan printed photos as the quality is not good enough. Read section 6.3.4 ‘Photographic evidence quality’ in the Agreement holder’s guide for more information. 

Or you can post the documents to RPA using the address in Annex 2. We recommend you get ‘proof of posting’.

8. What happens next

If your application meets the eligibility criteria, you will be offered an agreement. 

You’ll receive confirmation regardless of whether your application has been successful or not. If successful, you’ll receive an agreement offer letter. The Agreement Start Date will be set out in the agreement documents with the agreement offer letter. 

If you want to accept the agreement offer you must return the signed acceptance declaration to RPA within 20 working days of receiving it. If you do not accept the offer in time, it will be withdrawn. The person signing the acceptance declaration must have at least ‘View’ business permission level, and ‘Submit’ permission for CS Agreements in the Rural Payments service. You must either accept or decline the offer.

9. Scheme rules and other guidance 

All the guidance and information you need for Capital Grants is on GOV.UK. 

For guidance and information read the Capital Grants Applicant’s guide. 

For the scheme rules and information about agreements read the Capital Grants Agreement holder’s guide. 

Find out how to contact Catchment Sensitive Farming.

Remember, it’s your responsibility to make sure that: 

• you meet the scheme rules 
• all the eligible land included in your application is correct, to the best of your knowledge

10. Annex 1 – Supporting maps

You must create and submit a map to support your application.

10.1 Create your maps

You can create your base map by printing your land parcel digital maps in the Rural Payments service. On the ‘Business overview’ screen click ‘View land’ then click the relevant land parcel. The option to print is below the map. Make sure your printed map is clear, readable and meets the standards set out below.

If you cannot print the map, you can call us or you can use MAGIC maps on GOV.UK. If you choose MAGIC, use the ‘export map tool’ as this adds the required licence information. Wherever you get your base map from, make sure it has the copyright licence for this use.

The map must meet the following requirements:

• A3 or A4 in size (either is acceptable)
• 1:2,500 or 1:10,000 scale, unless using the Rural Payments Land View screen in the Rural Payments service to produce a map as it will automatically scale the map to fit A4 which is acceptable
• it must show the whole land parcel on which the boundaries to be included are located and the boundaries of the land parcel must be clear

10.2 What to include in the maps

Mark your maps to show the location of your capital items on your land parcels. It may help to complete the application and your maps alongside each other.

If your application is successful and you are offered an agreement, your Capital Grant maps will become your ‘Agreement Maps’.

The map must include the following:

• map number - include a unique map number and total number of maps for example, 1 of 3
• scale of the map
• SBI - consisting of 9 digits; application year; and agreement title (as entered in the application), write these on the top right of the map.
• name of business - this should be the name that is registered with us for the SBI, write this on the right-hand side of the map
• if there are no numbered Ordnance Survey (OS) grid lines, you must write a 6 figure OS grid reference for the centre of the map on the bottom left of the map (format AB 123 456)
• land parcel reference number, for example, SK 1234 5678, for the land parcels where the capital items will be located
• circle the land parcel reference number for all parcels that you include in your application
• add the capital item code to the land parcel in the location where the capital works will be located
• mark the boundaries you include in your application with a thick black line. You only need to include the land parcels adjacent to one side of each boundary, you do not need to include the land parcels on both sides of a boundary
• use black ink for all annotations on your map. If you make a mistake do not use correcting fluid, strike through the mistake instead

If you send a map that does not meet these requirements, we’ll return it to you to amend or ask you to send us a new one. You’ll need to complete this map to the minimum standard and return it to us.

10.3 Example map 

The example map shows what you need to mark on your map.

In this example map, the land parcel number is in the centre of the land parcel. A thick line is drawn along 2 sides of the land parcel to show a new or changed boundary. The agreement name, parcel ID, SBI, and total area are included on the left. The map scale is shown top right, and the OS grid reference is shown at the bottom of the map.

10.4 Supplementary information map

The following items require extra information, which must be provided on a supplementary map.

Item code	Name of item	Evidence required at application stage
BN3	Earth bank creation	Historic maps or other records to evidence that the proposed location of the bank creation is on an original footprint, or is a feature of a specific location or landscape – this can be marked on any map
BN5	Hedgerow laying	A map showing the location of existing hedgerow trees in each length of hedge
BN6	Hedgerow coppicing	A map showing the location of existing hedgerow trees in each length of hedge
BN11	Planting new hedges	Historic maps or other records to show that the proposed location of the hedge planting is on an original footprint or extends existing hedges or contributes to the reduction of soil erosion and run-off – this can be marked on any map
BN12	Stone wall restoration	A map showing the location of any wall-side trees, saplings and stone features
TE1	Planting standard hedgerow tree	A record of where hedgerow trees are to be planted

11. Annex 2 – How to submit your supporting documents

Send your evidence and supporting documents by email or post. 

Rural Payments Agency 
PO Box 324 
Worksop 
S95 1DF 

Email: ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk 

Please quote your single business identifier (SBI) and application name in all enquiries.