Eligibility of commons and shared grazing land for an SFI agreement
Find out the eligibility requirements for common land or shared grazing for an SFI agreement.
Applies to England
This section explains the mandatory scheme requirements for eligibility of common land or an area of shared grazing to be entered into a Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) agreement.
You should read this information with the other SFI scheme information which applies to all SFI agreements. This information will be kept under review as SFI is rolled out.
Definition of common land and shared grazing
For the purposes of an SFI agreement, ‘common land’ means:
- land registered as common land in a register of common land kept under Part 1 of the Commons Act 2006
- land to which Part 1 of that Act does not apply and which is subject to rights of common within the meaning of that Act
‘Shared grazing’ means communal pasture that is not registered as common land where graziers have a legal entitlement to graze. For example, a pasture used jointly by tenants.
The following information about commons also applies to areas of shared grazing.
Applying for an SFI agreement on common land
You must enter common land or an area of shared grazing into its own SFI agreement. The agreement cannot include other land you own or rent that is not common land.
This means that you must submit separate SFI applications for:
- the common land or shared grazing, using the existing single entity’s Single Business Identifier (SBI) or a new SBI if a single entity needs to be set up
- land you own or rent that is not common land, using the SBI for your own business
Eligibility to enter common land into an SFI agreement
To enter common land into an SFI agreement, you must:
- meet the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) eligibility requirement for common land
- be a single entity, either as a sole beneficiary or a group
- have a formal, legally enforceable internal arrangement for a group
- have sufficient management control of the common land to complete the SFI actions for the duration of the 3-year SFI agreement
The following information explains each of these requirements.
BPS eligibility requirement for common land
To apply for an SFI agreement on common land, one or more people need to have been eligible to use the common to claim the BPS in 2021, 2022 or 2023. They do not need to have claimed BPS or to have received BPS payments in the past.
Only a ‘single entity’ can apply for an SFI agreement on common land
Only a ‘single entity’ can enter into an SFI agreement on a common. This is to make sure that, where there is a group, the SFI actions in the SFI agreement can be delivered by the single entity for the agreement’s 3-year duration.
A single entity can be:
- a person who will be the sole beneficiary
- a group of 2 or more people with a formal, legally enforceable internal arrangement between them, a nominated representative and a single bank account
A sole beneficiary will usually be a landowner who owns the whole common and has sole use and rights to the common.
A common may already have a single entity to oversee:
- an existing Countryside Stewardship (CS) or Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement on the common
- general management of the common
It should be possible for the group to extend the scope of the existing single entity (provided it meets the 4 criteria explained below for a new single entity). This single entity should apply for SFI, using the SBI it already has.
There should not be more than one single entity overseeing an agri-environment scheme agreement for the same area of land on the common. This includes CS, HLS and SFI.
If a group has not already set up a single entity to oversee an existing CS or HLS agreement, or the general management of the common, it will need to do this before it applies for an SFI agreement on the common. It must register on the Rural Payments service to obtain a new SBI, even if some of the members already have their own SBIs individually.
It’s up to the group to decide how the new single entity is set up, but it must have:
- a main business contact identified for Rural Payments Agency (RPA) (the nominated representative)
- a bank account that’s registered with RPA
- a formal, legally enforceable internal arrangement between the single entity’s members to deal with any breaches of the agreement that may lead to RPA recovering payments
- sufficient management control of the common land to complete land management actions for the duration of the 3-year SFI agreement
You can find more information about management control under ‘Common land eligibility’ below.
You may find it helpful to read the CS guidance about setting up a commons association or an internal agreement for common land and shared grazing. Where this CS guidance uses the word ‘must’ or ‘should’, that requirement applies to a CS agreement, not an SFI agreement.
In setting up the single entity you may want to consider issues such as:
- how changes in membership will be dealt with
- how payments will be distributed among members
- whether the nominated representative will give permission in the Rural Payments service for other members to view the relevant documentation
- how disputes will be resolved within the group
You do not have to submit a copy of your formal internal arrangement to us, but you must supply this evidence to us if we ask for it.
Additional payment for a single entity on common land
To help with the costs of administering an SFI agreement on common land, there is an annual additional payment of £7 per hectare of eligible common land entered into its own SFI agreement.
This additional payment is available to single entities involving a group of 2 or more people entering common land into an SFI agreement.
In future, as more SFI actions are made available, this additional payment will continue to be paid per hectare of eligible common land entered into an SFI agreement.
This payment will be kept under review as SFI is rolled out.
Common land eligibility
An area of common land is eligible to be entered into an SFI agreement if:
- it’s wholly located in England
- it’s eligible for the SFI actions chosen
- the single entity will have sufficient management control of the common land for the duration of the 3-year SFI agreement
Eligible common land for the SFI actions
You can only enter an area of common land into an SFI agreement if it’s eligible for the SFI actions you choose. Read the information about eligible land for the SFI actions.
What area of common land can be entered into an SFI agreement
An SFI agreement on common land can include:
- a whole common
- more than one whole common, if they are managed as a single unit
- part of a common, if it’s a defined area that’s managed as a separate, single unit and the actions in the SFI agreement will not impact land management practices on the remaining part of the common
If the common is in an existing CS or HLS agreement, that same land can be entered into an SFI agreement if:
- it’s eligible for the SFI actions chosen
- the activities being paid for under each scheme are compatible
- a similar activity is not being paid for on the same area of land at the same time (known as double funding)
It’s recommended that the same CS or HLS agreement land is entered into the SFI agreement. This will make it easier to manage the agreements.
Management control of common land
To enter common land into an SFI agreement, the single entity must have sufficient management control of that land for the 3-year duration of the SFI agreement.
The single entity should have management control of the common land if it has sufficient control over how the land is managed to complete the SFI actions chosen for the duration of the SFI agreement.
The single entity must judge whether it has sufficient management control. This does not mean that every commoner has to agree or become part of the single entity. However, it does mean that those who are part of the single entity need to be able to complete the SFI actions in the SFI agreement.
To have sufficient management control, the group will need to consider whether the landowner needs to be part of the single entity. A group must also assess if the landowner’s consent is needed for the single entity to complete the SFI actions in the SFI agreement. If the landowner’s consent is needed, the group must obtain it.
Before applying for an SFI agreement, a group must take reasonable steps to contact and consult everyone with a legal interest in managing the common land. This is to make sure they:
- are aware of the group’s intention to enter the common land into an SFI agreement
- have the chance to participate in the SFI agreement
The people with a legal interest in managing the common land include:
- all known common rights holders, whether they’re actively using their rights or not
- the landowner
- tenants
- anyone who has an easement or other rights and covenants over the land, including sporting tenants
You may find it helpful to read the CS guidance for more information about consulting other people with a legal interest in managing the common. Where this CS guidance uses the word ‘must’ or ‘should’, that requirement applies to a CS agreement, not an SFI agreement.
When the single entity enters common land into an SFI agreement, it declares that it will have management control of that land for the agreement’s 3-year duration. The single entity must supply evidence of this if we ask for it.
Entering into an SFI agreement on common land
An SFI agreement on common land operates in the same way as an SFI agreement on land outside a common.
If the SFI agreement conflicts with any statutory requirements for the management of the common, those statutory requirements take precedence. For example, if the common land is a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), or there are public engagement commitments. Read the information about regulatory issues and consents that could affect you and the land in an SFI agreement.
Any breach of the SFI agreement on common land will only apply to that agreement. It will not apply to any separate SFI agreement for land outside of the common that you own or rent.
If the single entity decides to upgrade its SFI agreement, it may need to check it still has management control and whether it needs any regulatory consents.
As SFI is rolled out we will review this guidance and issue more information as required.
Last updated 10 April 2024 + show all updates
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Update to additional common land payment
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First published.