Guidance

How to complete your Woodland Tree Health grant application by email or post

Updated 14 July 2026

Applies to England

Before you apply for a Woodland Tree Health (WTH) grant, check the Applicant’s guide to make sure you’re eligible. 

To submit your application by email or post, you’ll need to complete an: 

• application form 
• annex document 
• application map 

Complete your application form 

Download the WTH application form from GOV.UK. 

If you cannot download the form, you can request a copy by email ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk or telephone 03000 200 301. 

Section 1: Applicant details 

Complete the following details:

• enter your name

• enter your Single Business Identifier (SBI) number

• enter the name of the woodland or farm

• tick the box if you have sent us a Land Ownership and Control (LOC) form. You need to send us a LOC form if you do not have land ownership and control over all the land included in this application, for 5 years from the start date of the agreement. Download the Land Ownership and Control form

• tick the box if you are a tenant required to carry out environmental management, and you are not seeking funding for these activities

• tick the box if you are including common land to confirm you have read the supplement and have included a Countryside Stewardship: common land and shared grazing supplementary application form

• tick the box to confirm you want to claim VAT

Ask for an application annex 

You also need to fill in a WTH annex as part of your application. Email ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk, or call us, to get a copy. 

Prepare a map to support your application 

You must provide a map showing the area of the woodland you are including in your WTH grant application and send this with your application form. The map needs to be clear, readable and meet the minimum mapping standards. 

How to create a map 

You can create the map yourself, if it meets the minimum mapping standards, or you can request one using the Forestry Commission map request service. 

The map (or maps) you provide should be based on Ordnance Survey (OS) maps or Geographical Information System (GIS) generated digital maps. 

Maps should be based on a scale of 1:2500 or 1:5000 or for large schemes 1:10000. If you are using a GIS based map at a non-standard scale, add a scale bar to the map so that this can be used to measure lengths. 

You should mark the land parcel references and your SBI clearly on the map. 

If you’re sending your supporting documents to us by email, your map must be a PDF file. 

Minimum mapping standards 

If you create your own application map, or are marking up a map you’ve received from the Forestry Commission map request service, you must: 

• show whole land parcels with land parcel references and a clear boundary
• number each map and include the total number of maps you’re submitting, for example ‘map 1 of 3’ 
• write your SBI – consisting of 9 digits, the application year and agreement name (as shown on the application form) on the top right of the map 
• write the name of business or applicant on the right-hand side of the map – this is the lead applicant on your application
• write a 6-figure OS grid reference for the centre of the map on the bottom left of the map 
• use black ink when you write on the map

Complete the WTH annex 

The annex is designed to capture all the information needed to complete your WTH application. This includes information about your land parcels, any prior agreements on the holding and the capital items you want to apply for on each land parcel. Enter as much detail as you can in this annex. 

You can apply for a WTH grant on land parcels which already have a Countryside Stewardship or Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement. However, the grant application cannot include any work which is already required by the existing scheme or is a breach of the conditions of your existing agreement. 

Filling in the annex electronically 

Open the annex that you’ve download and saved on your computer. Begin with the ‘START HERE’ tab. 

If you have a PA3: Woodland management plan you should fill in the accompanying annex electronically. Your Forestry Commission woodland officer will be able to access the self-calculating WTH annex in your woodland management plan to help you apply for this grant.

Completing the annex 

Start your application by completing the yellow cells in the ‘start here’ worksheet. This information will populate the other annexes as you complete them, so this information must be accurate.

Annex A: land summary 

Complete this annex first as it populates annex B and annex C. List all the land parcels included in your application. Make sure the information you give is correct.

Ordnance Survey (OS) map sheet ref or National Grid number 

Enter the land parcel number from the Rural Payments service for each land parcel in the format LP1234 5678. Select the correct national grid number from the drop-down list.

WTH restoration and improvement checks

You must confirm which grant you are applying for and you can select both types of grant (restoration or improvement) on the same land parcel.

Compartments and sub compartments in this parcel 

Confirm the correct compartment number from the drop-down list (it will auto-populate when you add the national grid number). 

Annex B: WTH restoration grant

Use this annex to answer specific tree health questions about the pests or diseases your application relates to and outline the restocking information. 

You can select the same parcel more than once in this annex to enter a different work area with different requirements. 

Capping payments

We apply a payment cap, so there is a limit on how much you can be paid for WTH restoration. You can find more details in section 5.1 of the Applicant’s guide.

The total cost of the proposed work will be shown as well as the ‘amount per hectare’ calculation. You will also see how much funding is available for each parcel under the payment cap. Any amount that exceeds the payment cap on that parcel is shown on the worksheet.

Internal open space in a woodland compartment

Open space is: integral open space that is limited to 20% of the total forest area and individual open spaces that do not exceed 0.5 ha or 20 metres in width. Open areas larger than this are not woodland. Open space can include forest tracks, rides, wayleaves and other permanent open areas.

Species

List the species you are planning to use for restocking in each parcel. You can use the Forestry England species abbreviation or list the full name.

Payment cap per hectare (ha) 

You cannot edit this cell.

Total payment cap for parcel

You cannot edit this cell. 

Automatic calculations for TE4: Supply and plant tree

When you enter values for stocking density and percentage of open space for capital item TE4: Supply and plant tree, the number of trees will calculate automatically.

Payment cap per hectare

You cannot edit this cell.

Total payment cap for each parcel

You cannot edit this cell.

Annex C: Clearance items

You can select the same parcel more than once in this annex to enter a different work area with different requirements.

Total area of this parcel (ha) 

You cannot edit this cell. 

Confirm which disease is present

You must confirm how you are confirming infection when applying for SB6: Rhododendron control. You can do this either with a Statutory Plant Health Notice (SPHN), written confirmation of the disease confirmed by the Forestry Commission or Animal and Plant Health Authority, or be within 3km of a SPHN.

Choosing the payment rate: SB6: Rhododendron control

You need to choose the item code and description which is closest to:

• the slope of the site
• rhododendron height

Choosing the payment rate: SB1: Felling diseased trees

You need to choose the item code and description which is closest to:

• the method of removal
• diameter of plant stem
• area covered in each hectare

Annex D: Infrastructure items 

Claiming VAT for FY2: Woodland infrastructure

You must confirm if you want to claim VAT for this item. If you do, you will be asked to provide evidence confirming you cannot claim VAT for the work.

Quotations to support your application

You must provide 3 quotations setting out the cost of the works.

Local planning authority consent

You must provide some evidence from your local planning authority confirming whether you need either planning permission or permitted consent.

If you do not need consent or permission from your local planning authority, you must provide evidence to show this. This can be a:

• letter from the authority confirming you do not need permission
• note of a telephone conversation with a local authority representative, with the name, date, and time of the call
• link to online guidance or printout of guidance text which shows you do not need permission

Application summary

This worksheet provides a summary of your application and populates automatically.

Section 2: Declaration and undertakings 

Complete this section to confirm that you have read and understood the requirements of the WTH grant and the undertakings that you are making when submitting your application. 

If you’re submitting your application by email, you do not need to sign the application.

You must send supporting documents at the same time as your application form. 

Send a map of your holding with your application. 

If you do not have management control over the land for the duration of the proposed agreement, send either: 

• a Land Ownership and Control form
• an agreement from your landlord, if your landlord is a public body

Read section 3.3 of the Applicant’s guide for more details.

The Capital grant finder on GOV.UK details any evidence you need to submit with your application for each item. 

Submit your application, map and supporting documents 

You should scan and email all documents, including the annexes and include your SBI on all documents. Email to ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk  and use the subject heading ‘Woodland Tree Health grant application 2026’ and include your SBI.

You can submit digital photos by email but do not scan printed photos as the quality is not good enough. 

The maximum size of emails we can accept is 32MB. If the email exceeds this limit, please send a further email and use the same subject heading. Add the number of emails at the end of the subject heading, for example, 1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3. 

You’ll receive an automated email to confirm we have received your application. Check your spam mailbox if you don’t receive this. 

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

Or you can post the documents to:

Rural Payments Agency
PO Box 324
Worksop
S95 1DF

Make sure your SBI is on everything you send, and you sign your application and any supporting documents.