How to make a capital or revenue claim
Read the guidance to help you claim payment for Countryside Stewardship agreements that started before 2025, and for capital items.
Applies to England
Make a revenue claim
For Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreements starting from 2025, you must submit an annual declaration. You do not need to submit an annual claim form. Read section 16.1 ‘Submit your annual declaration’ in the CSHT agreement holder’s guide.
Read the following guidance to make a revenue claim for Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier and Wildlife Offers agreements, and Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreements, that started on or before 1 January 2024.
We must receive your claim and any supporting documents by 11:59pm on 15 May 2026.
If you return your claim form after the deadline, your total payment for this claim year will be reduced as follows:
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between 16 May 2026 and 31 May 2026 - 5%
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between 1 June 2026 and 30 June 2026 - 10%
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between 1 July 2026 and 1 September 2026 - 25%
We will not pay claims that are submitted after 11.59pm on 1 September 2026, unless exceptional circumstances apply.
If this is the first year of your agreement, you must submit a revenue claim in 2026.
Make a claim online
You can claim online using the Rural Payments service. Once you’ve signed in, select ‘View business’ then scroll down the business overview to ‘Countryside Stewardship claims’.
On the Countryside Stewardship claims screen, click the button ‘Annual Declaration’ to make your annual revenue claim.
You can then use the on-screen ‘Help’ link to take you through each process step-by-step.
Read more about how to create an annual declaration online.
Make a claim by email or post
If you’re unable to claim online, contact RPA by phone or email to request a revenue claim form.
Follow the guidance on how to complete a CS revenue claim by email or post.
Send your completed form, supporting documents and evidence (where relevant) to us by post or email using our contact details.
Make a capital claim
To claim for capital items in a Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) agreement that started from 2025, read section 16.2: ‘Claim for your capital items’ in the CSHT agreement holder’s guide.
For other capital items, you can submit your claim at any time of year. This must be:
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after the capital work is finished
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after you have been charged or invoiced
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before or within 3 months of the Claim by Date of the capital item, you can check this in your agreement document - a late claim reduction will apply if the claim is received after this date
We will apply late claim reductions as follows:
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claim submitted up to 1 month after Claim by Date – 5% reduction
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claim submitted 1 to 2 months after Claim by Date – 10% reduction
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claim submitted 2 to 3 months after Claim by Date – 25% reduction
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claim submitted more than 3 months after Claim by Date or not at all – 100% reduction
All the information you need to know about capital claims is in the relevant scheme guidance.
Make a CS claim online
You can claim online using the Rural Payments service. Once you’ve signed in, select ‘View business’ then scroll down the business overview to ‘Countryside Stewardship claims’.
On the Countryside Stewardship claims screen, select the ‘Create a new Countryside Stewardship Capital Claim’ green button:
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Create a new Countryside Stewardship Capital Claim 2026
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Create a new Countryside Stewardship Capital Claim 2025
You can then use the on-screen ‘Help’ link to take you through each process step-by-step.
Please contact RPA if you have any difficulties with the online process.
Make a claim by email or post
If you’re unable to claim online, contact RPA by phone or email to request a capital claim form.
Follow the guidance on how to complete your CS capital claim form by email or post.
Send your completed form, supporting documents and evidence (where relevant) to us by post or email using our contact details.
Contact us
You can contact RPA by query form, email, post or phone.
Complete a query form in the Rural Payments service. To do this, sign in to your Rural Payments account and go to ‘Create or view a query’.
Email: ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk
Rural Payments Agency
PO Box 324
Worksop
S95 1DF
Telephone: 03000 200 301
Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm (excluding public holidays)
Updates to this page
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Information included about how agreement holders claim payment for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) agreements starting from 2025.
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CS & ES - claim window opening update to GOV.UK
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Details updated for 2026 Capital Claims
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CS & ES - Submission window closure
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GOV.UK updated to say that the submit without penalties date has passed.
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Customers can now submit 2025 revenue claims.
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online claim year updated
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Updated to confirm that the revenue claim window for 2024 is closed.
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Updates to claim dates advising customers of the final deadline of 2 September 2024
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Updated to show the 15 May deadline for submitting revenue claims without reductions has now passed
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Revenue claim window opening update
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Updated for capital claims in 2024.
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Information updated as revenue claims closed at 11:59pm on 31 August 2023.
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Added further information to clarify the process for Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) pilot customers.
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Page updated to reflect the deadline for CS revenue claims without reductions closed at midnight on 15 May 2023.
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Addition of information about submitting a CS revenue claim for 2023.
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Page now explains how you can make an online claim using on-screen help and links to guidance for making a claim by email or post.
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Closure of Countryside Stewardship annual revenue claims for 2022.
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Updated for CS revenue claims opening on 15 March 2022.
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Added link to Countryside Stewardship revenue payment rates from 1 January 2022. Removed information about rotational options.
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The revenue claim summary has been updated to show land parcel reference numbers in the rotational options section (Section3).
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Edited news to confirm CS revenue claims have closed for 2021. Removed out of date updates.
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Edited the information about the deadline for receiving claims as the 17 May deadline has now passed. Removed outdated information about additional helpline dates.
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Update call out box to include message about additional helpline opening hours.
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Detail added to explain that currently the rotational option section (secton 3) in the revenue claim summary does not contain any land parcel reference numbers. To also explain what to do until 20 July when this will be updated.
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RPA opening hours between Thursday 1 April and Tuesday 6 April.
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First published.