Guidance

How to apply for a comprehensive project as part of the Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant

Updated 28 May 2024

Applies to England

This guidance explains how to apply for funding to upgrade or replace existing laying hen or pullet housing.

The application process for this grant has 2 stages:

• Stage 1: online checker
• Stage 2: full application

1. Stage 1: online checker

Use our online checker to make an initial online application.

To be eligible to apply you will need to confirm that your project will meet a list of requirements linked to the grant funding priorities.  

This will check if:

• you’re eligible to apply for a grant for your project
• how well your project fits the funding priorities

The online checker is expected to open at the end of June 2024.

1.1 What information you’ll need for the online checker

You will need: 

• information about your business (including your County Parish Holding (CPH ) number, type of farmer, legal status, landowner status)
• information about the project (for example, the type of housing system, building layout, interior specification, including insulation material and properties, ventilation system capacity, and the multi-tier system make/model)
• information about any required planning permission
• an estimate of the total cost of the project

2. Stage 2: full application

If you’re eligible to apply, and your project scores well enough against the funding priorities at Stage 1, we’ll invite you to make a full application and send you the application forms.

You will need to fill in the full application forms and send these, with your supporting documents, to RPA by email to FTF@rpa.gov.uk.

RPA will use these to assess the project in terms of financial viability and delivery.

2.1. What you’ll need for your full application forms

You will need to provide more details about your project.

Use the:

• same project that you used in your Stage 1: online application
• project number provided by RPA in your invitation to apply for a full application

We know that some minor project details may change after you complete the online checker, such as changes to project costs as they are finalised. However, the main details of your project should not be significantly different to your online application.

If you need to discuss significant changes to your project, you will need to contact RPA by email before you submit your full application. If the full application is significantly different, the application may be rejected.

2.2. What information you need to provide at full application

The full application is in 2 parts, a Word form and an Excel spreadsheet.

You’ll need to provide:

• information about you, your business and project
• evidence to show that your business is an egg producing or pullet rearing business with 1000+ birds
• a breakdown of project costs
• supplier details
• project milestones
• an explanation of how the project will be funded
• a detailed specification of the building showing which of the minimum requirements or scoring criteria already exist and which are to be bought as part of the project
• scale plans showing building design and layout
• details of the building insulation - this must include the type of insulating material used (all buildings) and its U-value (new buildings only)
• evidence that the mechanical ventilation system for the proposed housing will have the capacity to meet the required performance level
• the make and model of any multi-tier systems
• the total number of welfare ramps included as part of a multi-tier system
• the specification of the lighting systems
• veranda exemption details (where applicable)
• solar exemption roof details (where applicable)
• evidence of matched housing between rearing and lay (where applicable)

You will also need to provide evidence of the:

• stocking capacity of the housing at the time of application - including the total useable area in square metres (m²) and the usable area at floor level in m²
• stocking capacity of the housing at project completion - including the total useable area in m² and the usable area at floor level in m²
• maximum stocking density utilised in kilogram per m² (pullets only)

By applying for this grant, you consent to allow Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) to give RPA this information on stocking capacity and density to verify the details in your application.

2.3 Other supporting documents

You will need to provide the following supporting documents, if relevant to your project:

• a copy of a signed and dated tenancy agreement with the owners of the land or buildings at the project location, if the applicant business does not own them
• a letter from your landlord underwriting the application, if using this option
• financial accounts for the most recent 3 years of trading
• latest tax returns, management accounts, or a statement of income and expenses from an accountant, if you have been trading for less than 2 years
• 3 quotes, references to catalogue listings or formal tenders for each item valued at £5,000 or more
• one quote for any item valued up to £4,999.99
• evidence of availability of your project funding
• confirmation from the supplier that any second-hand item is expected to last for at least 5 years, is fit for purpose and has not received previous grant funding
• details and (at least draft) agreements between parties where collaborations or partnerships are declared
• evidence where you are eligible to, and intend to, include irrecoverable VAT in your project costs (such as a letter from a Chartered Accountant or HMRC)
• evidence of measures taken to pro-actively support bird welfare following the transition period for those projects involving replacing colony cages with a non-cage system - this may include evidence of an appropriate management plan, such as a Feather Cover Action Plan (FCAP), co-written with a veterinary professional and training in the maintenance of flock feather cover
• planning permission approval (where applicable) - when applying for planning permission, please state on your planning application that your project is part of the Defra Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant
• other relevant permissions and consents (where applicable) – this may require you to apply for a new, or update your existing environmental permit if you have more than 40,000 places for poultry

If you currently have less than 40,000 bird places on your site and you will increase the number of bird places to more than 40,000, you will need to apply for an environmental permit.

If your site currently has more than 40,000 bird places and your project will include changes to the permitted activity (for example, housing system, bird numbers or manure management), you will need to apply for an environmental permit variation.

You can use the Environment Agency’s pre-application advice service to make sure your permit application is correct.

3. How your application is assessed

If your project is still eligible at the full application stage, we will check if it meets the minimum specifications for a comprehensive project grant. We will also assess your application on the following criteria.

3.1 Funding priorities

We will score how well your project meets the grant requirements and funding priorities. Successful projects will:

• improve laying hen and pullet health and welfare
• enhance environmental sustainability
• introduce innovation

These are set out in more detail in the “Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant specifications”. The better your project meets these funding priorities, the stronger your application will be.   

3.2 Financial viability

We will assess the current financial viability of your business and how you will fund the project until the grant is claimed.

3.3 Delivery and sustainability

We will assess how you’ll meet the project timelines and mitigate any risks to project delivery.

4. When you’ll find out if you’re successful

We aim to give you a decision on your application within 60 working days from receipt of a complete full application.

If you are offered a grant, we will send a Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) for you to sign and return. This will set out the legal terms and conditions of the grant, including the:

• amount of the grant
• outputs we have agreed for your project
• information we require during the project for monitoring and evaluation activities

If you need to change anything in the GFA over the course of the project, you must get written agreement from RPA first. If you do not, we could end your agreement and reclaim any grant we have already paid. You’ll get more information and help with this if you are offered a grant.

5. If your application is unsuccessful

If your application is unsuccessful, we will write to you to tell you why. If you’re unhappy with the decision, you can complain to us in writing, by email or by telephone. If you remain unhappy with our decision, you may be able to appeal.

6. Contact RPA

Contact the Farming Transformation Fund (FTF) team at RPA if you’re not sure if you are eligible to apply, or if you are not able to access the online checker.

Email: FTF@rpa.gov.uk

Telephone: 0300 0200 301 and follow options for the Farming Transformation Fund scheme.

Post:

Farming Transformation Fund
Grants Service
Rural Payments Agency
Sterling House
Dix’s Field
Exeter
EX1 1QA