Change anything that needs updating

Making changes online will update your application. If you do not need to make any changes, go to ‘Complete your declaration’.

Use the different links on your ‘Business overview’ screen to make changes to the information shown on your application summary. If you’re still on the screen where you ‘Make changes to your application’ (where you downloaded your application summary), click ‘Back to Business overview’ at the top of the screen.

A guide about where you can make changes in the Rural Payments service is at annex 2. When you’re using the Rural Payments service, whenever you see the ‘Help’ link, you can click it to read information about how to use the screen you’re on.

When you’ve finished making your changes from the Business overview screen, you’ll need to Open your application again and go back to the screen where you ‘Manage your application’ so you can complete your Declaration (for more information, read section ‘Complete your declarations’).

Part A: Business details

To update your business name, click ‘View and amend your business details’ on the right side of the ‘Business overview’ screen, then ‘Amend business details and reference numbers’. To leave this screen always click ‘Save changes’.

Make changes to Part C: Field data sheet

The information in Part C: field data sheet comes from the ‘Land use’ screen. You can find it by clicking the ‘Update land’ link on the Business overview screen.

You can make the following changes to Part C:

• change your ‘land use’ (columns C6 and C7 on your application summary)
• reduce the area you want to claim for payment (C8).

You can’t change the information in columns C3 or C4 of your application summary online – and you won’t need to when you make an application. You just need to:

• make sure your land use (C7) and areas (C6) are correct, and
• send us an RLE1 form and sketch map (if you haven’t already done so) if there has been a permanent boundary change (the total size of the parcel has changed), or if permanent non-agricultural areas and features have been added or removed from it.

In the Rural Payments service, declare all of the land information to 4 decimal places (x.xxxx) ha. If you have any problems doing this, we recommend you round down rather than using normal rounding rules.

For example, if the parcel is 2.47725ha, record as 2.4772ha, rather than 2.4773ha.

If you see the ‘Plan not editable’ message on the ‘Update land use’ screen, call us on 03000 200 301 and tell us you have this message. We’ll change the status in the Rural Payments service so that you can make your changes.

Change ‘Land use’ - columns C6 and C7

From the ‘Business overview’ screen, click ‘Update land use’. The information on the land use screen will be submitted to us as part of your BPS application in Part C, so it’s important that it’s correct.

Making a change in the ‘Update land Use’ screen won’t automatically update your digital maps in the ‘View land’ screens. For more information about the ‘View land’ screens, read ‘Annex 1: Your digital maps’.

Important: if you’re changing the land use for a land parcel that is already included or is going to be included, in a Countryside Stewardship (CS) agreement, make sure that the land use is compatible with the CS management option or it may affect your CS application or an existing agreement and your payment. For more information, refer to:

• the appropriate CS manual – search ‘Countryside Stewardship’ on GOV.UK
• the Forestry Commission guidance ON42 – search ‘Woodland grant schemes and BPS’ on GOV.UK.
• the ‘Basic Payment Scheme: rules for 2022’ available on GOV.UK

Searching for a land parcel

If you have a large number of land parcels, the easiest way to find the parcel you are looking for is to use the ‘Filters’. When you use a filter, you can update your land use and you’ll return to the filtered view (rather than the top of the land use screen). This means you can make a number of changes to a land parcel without having to search for it each time.

To see the filters, click the ‘Filters’ heading.

You can filter by:

• sheet reference (for example, ‘2435’ or ‘AB1234’)
• parcel ID (for example, ‘1145’)
• land use – using this filter will show all the instances of a single land use (for example, if you search for permanent grassland it will show you all the land uses for ‘PG01 – Permanent Grassland’ for each National Grid reference)
• ‘Undeclared’ or ‘Overdeclared’ to see all the parcels and land use areas which have these warnings

To filter, type the information you want to search for into one of the white boxes, then click the ‘Search’ button. To filter for ‘Undeclared’ or ‘Overdeclared’ warnings, click the arrow next to ‘All’, and choose the warning you want to search for:

To remove a filter:

• delete the text you’ve typed in to one of the white boxes, then click ‘Search’
• click the arrow next to the box showing ‘Undeclared’ or ‘Overdeclared’ and click ‘All’.

If you use the filter to search by OS Sheet number, you will rarely have more than 10 fields to look through and generally all are displayed on the screen.

Make changes to land use

You can do the following.

• Edit – change a land use area
• Add – include another land use in the land parcel and tell us its area / measurement
• Delete – remove a land use from a land parcel

When you’re changing your land use there are checks built into the Rural Payments service. They’ll highlight if the land uses you’ve declared for a parcel add up to more or less than the total field size that we currently have mapped. The total field size is shown in the ‘Parcel size’ column (and column C3 on your application summary).

The total field size shown is the area of the parcel which is linked to your holding. This will remain the same even if only part of the parcel is linked to you. For example, if the parcel is 10.0000ha in size and 50% is linked to you, the total field size will show as 10.0000ha in the land use screen and 10.0000ha in your digital maps. Column C4 (eligible area) will show 5.0000 to reflect the reduction. You can check the percentages of your land in the ‘Transfer land’ or ‘Business summary’ screens.

Undeclared

If you see an amber ‘undeclared’ warning, this means you haven’t declared the land use for the area of the land parcel that is linked to your holding and we currently have mapped. To add a land use for this area, click the ‘Add’ icon for the row shown as undeclared.

Overdeclared

If you see a red ‘overdeclared’ warning, this means you’ve declared land use that’s larger than the total size of the land parcel we currently have mapped and linked to your holding (SBI). Use the ‘Edit’ icons on the land use screen to reduce the size of one or more of the land uses in the land parcel.

You can update your land use to remove the ‘Undeclared’ and / or ‘Overdeclared’ warnings, but you may not need to if:

• you need to tell us about a change to the total size of the field - send us an RLE1 form and sketch map to tell us about the changes and make sure the land use you’ve entered is correct
• you’ve already sent us an RLE1 to tell us about changes but we haven’t updated your maps yet. You need to make sure the land uses for the parcel and their areas are correct
• only part of the land parcel is ‘at your disposal’ for BPS, then you should only declare the land use(s) and area for your part of the parcel.

If any of these apply, you can still submit your application if the ‘undeclared’ or ‘overdeclared’ warnings are showing.

Important: After you’ve created your application and generated an application summary, if a land parcel is added to your business (SBI), or there’s a mapping change, you need to:

• add the land use, or make the relevant change, to the land parcel in the Land use screen. From the Business overview screen click ‘Update land use’, then click ‘Activate less BPS area’ to allow your application to update with the new information.

• You’ll see a message saying, ‘We are calculating your eligibility information, please wait’. Once it’s completed, check the information is correct. Then click ‘Save’, then ‘Close’ to leave the screen.

• From the Business overview screen click ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your application’ then ‘Open’ your application and click ‘Manage changes to your application’.

• More information about how to do this can be found in this section. If the change relates to commons, you need to click the relevant link to allow that part of your application to update.

• Activate less commons’ – after you’ve made the changes to the Update commons screen – more information about how to do this can be found in this section.
• After you’ve done this, generate and download your application summary again to see the updates that have been made to your application.

If you have a land parcel in the ‘land use’ screen showing an area of 0.0000 and an amber ‘undeclared’ warning next to it

You need to do one of the following.

• If the parcel should not be linked to your SBI because, for example, you do not have control of the parcel or have sold it, and you want to remove it from your holding, or transfer it to the new owner, follow the instructions in the ‘Make changes to Part C: Field data sheet’ section.
• If you cannot remove or transfer the parcel in the Transfer land screens, leave the area as undeclared in your online application and send us an RLE1 form to make the transfer.
• If you want to claim for BPS on this parcel, add the land uses to the land use screen using the information you have before you add the land parcel to your application
• If you do not want to claim for BPS on this parcel, then leave the parcel as undeclared with an area of 0.0000 when you submit your BPS application.

The land use screen will still show as an ‘undeclared’ area and flag against the 0.0000 and reference number. However, it will not be included in the list of ‘undeclared areas’ at the top of the screen (as shown below).

Adding or editing a land use

Enter a new land use (after clicking the ‘Add’ icon) or edit an existing one (after clicking the ‘Edit’ icon). If you get stuck, click the ‘Help’ link.

When you add or edit a land use, the screen will allow you to choose a further land use and its ‘Rotation’. This is no longer used for BPS and you should not enter any information for rotations.

When you have made your changes on this screen, click the ‘Save’ button, then ‘Back’.

For BPS 2022, if you’re applying for ‘Spelt Wheat’, you need to use code AC96, which will show as ‘Samphire’.

Important

If the changes you make mean that the total size of the field (‘Parcel size’ in the land use screen) has changed, you need to fill in and send us an RLE1 form and sketch map and ask us to change the permanent field boundaries (if you haven’t already done so). You can download an RLE1 form from GOV.UK.

If you have already sent us an RLE1 form, you can check your digital map of the land parcel to see if the change still shows as ‘pending’ – shown by an (!) icon. For more information, read ‘Annex 1: Your digital maps’.

Add or remove land parcels at Part C

The information in the tables below explains how to add or remove a land parcel at Part C of your application summary.

If you transfer land online, you won’t see this straightaway on your digital maps in the ‘View land’ screens. It can take up to 24 hours to appear. You should see it straightaway in the ‘Update land use’ screen.

If you want to add a land parcel to your application

You need to do either option 1, if the land parcel is already registered with us or option 2, if it is not registered with us.

1 If the land parcel is already registered with us you need to do one of the following.

• Ask the previous owner or applicant to transfer the land parcel to you online (this will link the parcel to your SBI). We recommend online transfers are made as early as possible, so they appear on your online application in time to submit it. If the land parcel shows the holding type as ‘tenant’ or less than 100% owned, read the section below this table ‘Transferring or removing land with holding type as tenant or shows as less than 100% owned of the land parcel’. If the land parcel is in an agri-environment agreement with another SBI, read the ‘Important’ information within the ‘Dual linking of land for landlords and tenants’ section.
• Fill in a BP5 continuation booklet (available on GOV.UK) with the details of the land parcel and send it to us when you apply.
• Add land by email - send us an email (from an email address registered for a person in the business in the Rural Payments service, with at least ‘BPS: Amend’ permission) asking us to add the land to your online application – put ’Add land’ in the subject title and include the following information in the body of your email:
  • the SBI and name of the business the land should be linked to (so it appears on your online application)
  • the land parcel reference numbers for the parcels you want to add. including sheet reference numbers and parcel IDs. National Grid field numbers in the format of 2 letters followed by 8 numbers. For example, AB1234 5678
  • your name and contact number in case of any issues.

Only land parcels not linked to common land can be added using email. Any requests to add land parcels that are linked to common land need to be submitted on a BP5 continuation booklet.

Send your email to: ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk and include the subject title: ‘Add land’.

We need to receive your email by 3 May 2022 to make sure we can get back to you in time for you to complete your application by the 16 May 2022 deadline.

We will send you an email (to the email address you sent the request from) after the change has been made. In some cases, for example, the land has an outstanding mapping change, we may not be able to link the parcel to your SBI. If this happens, we will email you and provide you with a link to the continuation sheets that you will need.

Important

You need to read the ‘Important’ information within the ‘Make changes to land use’ section about adding a land parcel to your application.

2 If the land parcel is not registered with us

Fill in a BP5 continuation booklet with the details of the land parcel and send it to us when you apply and fill in an RLE1 form and sketch map to register the land parcel (if you haven’t already done so).

If you want to transfer or remove a land parcel from your application

You need to do one of the following.

1 Transfer the land parcel online to the right business in the Rural Payments service (this will remove it from your business). After you’ve transferred the land parcel, you need to make sure you do not include it as part of your BPS application.

2 Remove the land parcel from your business (SBI) if you no longer have control of it - for example, you do not farm it any longer or you tried to delete it from your application last year and it’s still appearing. To do this go to ‘Transfer land’ and select ‘Remove’ as the type of transfer.

If the land parcel shows the holding type as ‘tenant’ or less than 100% owned and this is incorrect, you will need to fill in a ‘Change land tenure form’. Read section ‘Transferring or removing land with holding type as tenant or shows as less than 100% owned of the land parcel’ for more information.

After you have either transferred or removed the land parcel, you need to remove it from your BPS application (before you submit it). To do this, from the ‘Land use’ screen delete the ‘land use’ from the land parcel. Then, check the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen. The land parcel should not appear.

If you are not able to transfer or remove the land parcel online, fill in an RLE1 form and email it to us. You also need to remove the land parcel from your BPS application – see the information above.

Important

If you transfer the land parcel from your SBI, or use the ‘Remove’ land option, this will completely remove the land parcel from your record, you won’t be able to claim for payment on that land parcel for either BPS or one of the following agri-environment payment schemes.

• Countryside Stewardship
• Environmental Stewardship
• Sustainable Farming Incentive
• Habitat Scheme
• English Woodland Grant Scheme
• Farm Woodland Premium Scheme
• National Forest Changing Landscape Scheme
• Woodland Carbon Fund
• HS2 Woodland Fund

Do not use the ‘Remove land’ option if you still control the land parcel for one of these schemes. If you remove a land parcel under an existing agri-environmental agreement, it will be removed from your land record and from your agreement. It may also mean that any payments already made to you are recovered.

For these cases, you should leave the land parcel on your BPS application and use the correct ‘land use’ for the scheme you are applying for. To update your land use, from the ‘land use’ screen, use the ‘Edit land use’ option.

You also need to remove the land parcel from your BPS application. To do this, you need to use the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen and select ‘No’ in the relevant row. This will reduce the ‘applied for’ area on your BPS application to 0.0000. Read ‘Part C (Column C8): ‘Activate less BPS area’ within the ‘Complete your declarations’ section for more information.

Transferring or removing land - with ‘holding type’ of tenant or shows as less than 100% owned of the land parcel

You cannot transfer or remove a land parcel online if the ‘Holding type’ on the ‘Transfer land’ screen shows as:

1 Tenant

2 Owner but the percentage owned is less than 100%

If this is incorrect, you will need to fill in the ‘Change land tenure form’ to update the holding type and/or land share of a parcel. When this information is shown correctly, you will then be able to transfer or remove the land parcel in the Rural Payments Service.

You can also fill in and send us an RLE1 form to transfer or remove the land parcel from your SBI. Read the RLE1 guidance for more information.

The ‘Transfer land’ screen, and the ‘Business summary’ screen, which you can access from the Business overview screen, shows the percentage of land owned on the ‘Land details’ page under ‘Share %’.

Dual linking of land for landlords and tenants

If a landlord has a land parcel in an agri-environment agreement and has let the land to a tenant who is using the same land at the same time to apply for BPS, that land needs to be linked to both the landlord’s and tenant’s SBI. This situation is known as ‘dual use’.

The tenant can add the land parcel to their online BPS application by emailing us – follow the instructions in the table within section ‘Add or remove land parcels at part C’. This will allow the land parcel to be linked to the tenant’s SBI at the same time as being linked to the landlord’s SBI. This will not create a permanent land link to the tenant’s SBI, only submitting an RLE1 form or transferring the land online will do that.

If an RLE1 form is submitted to transfer the land parcel to the tenant, write on the front page of the RLE1 form ‘Dual use – maintain link to existing SBI’. The tenant should then include the land parcel on a continuation sheet or email us to add the land parcel to their online BPS application.

If the landlord is transferring the land online to a tenant, they should transfer it by lease, which will allow the tenant to include the land parcel on their application. This will not break the existing land link to the owner but will add a new link to the land parcel for the tenant. At the end of the lease, the parcel link will end but the original land link to the owner will be retained.

If the landlord is applying for BPS on other land, the agri-environment scheme agreement land should be declared on their BPS 2022 application but the area being claimed for payment should show as 0.0000.

Important: the tenant applying for BPS on the land parcel should update the land use – they need to make sure that the land use code for BPS does not conflict with the CS option that the landlord has on their agri-environment agreement. If the parcel is owned by someone else but they are not applying for payment on it for BPS, they should use the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen to show that they are not applying for payment on that land parcel - click the button next to the N to answer ‘no’ in the relevant row, then click Save.

Other changes you may want to make

Other information you may find useful when you make changes to your land information.

If you want to change the size of a land parcel (because the permanent boundary has changed)

You need to increase or reduce the total size of your land parcel.

To increase the size of the land parcel, you need to:

• increase the area of land use for the corresponding land use code(s). Use the ‘Edit’ and/or ‘Add’ icons in the land use screen to make the changes. The total area of land use will now be larger than the total parcel size and will show as ‘overdeclared’.
• fill in an RLE1 and sketch map to tell us about the change to the land parcel (if you haven’t already done so).

To reduce the size of the land parcel you need to:

• reduce the area of land use for the corresponding code(s). Use the ‘Edit’ icon in the land use screen to make the changes. The total area of land uses will now be smaller than the total parcel size and will show as ‘undeclared’.
• fill in an RLE1 form and sketch map to tell us about the change (if you haven’t already done so).

Important

You need to click ‘Activate less BPS area’ for the information to be updated in your application. For more information read the ‘Important’ box within the ‘Making changes to land use’ section.

If you want to split or merge parcels (permanent splits, not crop splits)

You need to do either of the following.

• Merge: fill in the land use for each parcel and leave as 2 separate parcels. Use the ‘Edit’, ‘Delete’ or ‘Add’ icons in the land use screen to do this.
• Split: fill in the land use for each parcel in the existing parcel (and do not split it other than providing different land use where needed). Use the ‘Edit’, ‘Delete’ or ‘Add’ icons in the land use screen to do this.

Then fill in and send us an RLE1 and sketch form to tell us about the change (if you haven’t already done so).

Important:

You need to click ‘Activate less BPS area’ for the information to be updated in your application. For more information read the ‘Important’ box within the ‘Making changes to land use’ section.

If you want to claim for land that is in dual use

You need to agree the land use code to use for the land parcel with the other applicant – make sure it is compatible with both BPS and CS / ES agreements. Once this is agreed, this is the land use you should both declare in your land use screen and should not be changed unless you both agree with the change.

Then, you need to do one of the following. If you are:

• applying for BPS on the land parcel: claim on the land parcel but do not amend the land use code. The person who IS NOT applying for BPS on the land parcel should use the ‘activate less BPS area’ screen to show the ‘eligible area’ as 0.0000 so that the land parcel is not activated for payment, if they are applying for BPS on other land parcels.
• claiming for Countryside Stewardship or Environmental Stewardship and someone else is claiming for BPS on the same area: do not activate the land parcel for payment on your BPS application. If you are applying for BPS on other land parcels, use the ‘activate less BPS area’ screen. Do not amend the land use code or eligible area on the ‘Land use’ screen.
• making a Countryside Stewardship application in 2022: claim on the parcel and make sure the land use code is the same on the application for BPS and CS. The land needs to be linked to both the person claiming BPS and the person claiming CS.

If you want to declare an area of a shared parcel

You need to declare the area of land use for your share of the land parcel.

The total area of land uses will now be smaller than the total parcel size, and you will get an ‘undeclared’ warning. Use the ‘Edit’ icons in the land use screen to do this.

Make sure the shares declared by each person do not exceed the total parcel size or the maximum BPS eligible area.

If you want to tell us about non-agricultural areas and features in a land parcel which are not on your maps

You need to enter the land use code for the non-agricultural area or feature and enter the area. Use the ‘Add’ icon on the land use screen to add new land uses. If it is a temporary non-agricultural area or feature, use the NA02 land use code.

You also need to fill in an RLE1 form and sketch map to tell us about these features/ areas if it is a permanent non-agricultural area or feature (if you haven’t already done so). We do not map temporary non-agricultural areas or features.

If you want to tell us about temporary non- agricultural areas and features

You need to give the area or feature a land use code of NA02 and enter the area. Use the ‘Add’ icon on the land use screen to add new land uses.

You do not need to fill in an RLE1 form or sketch map to tell us about temporary non-agricultural features.

If you want to submit an RLE1 to tell us about changes to your land

You need to fill in an RLE1 form and sketch map to tell us about permanent changes to your land for BPS 2022.

When submitting an RLE1 form for land changes, make sure that the changes are also shown in your online application.

If land changes occur later in the year and these affect your 2022 application (for example, some of your land has become permanently ineligible for BPS), tell us about the change by emailing or writing to us with a completed RLE1 form and sketch map, explaining the changes needed to your application.

Read the ‘Basic Payment Scheme: rules for 2022’ for more information about withdrawing part or all of an application.

If you want to have a land parcel in your ‘Land use’ screen in the Rural Payments service and a single land use is shown over a number of lines (for example, permanent grassland is shown 3 times in one land parcel)

You need to do one of the following.

• Leave it so it shows as more than one line in the ‘Update land use’ screen.
• Delete and edit the information so the land use only shows on one line for that land parcel.

If you want to change the land cover shown on your digital maps for a land parcel

You need to do one of the following.

• Where there is one land cover (arable, permanent grassland, permanent crops or non-agricultural) for the whole land parcel, call us on 03000 200 301.
• Where there is more than one land cover for a land parcel, you need to fill in an RLE1 form and send it to us with a sketch map clearly marked with the land covers and areas.

For more information, read section ‘Land cover changes’ in the RLE1 guidance.

Check the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen

You should check the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen whether or not you’ve made any changes to your land information as the area you’ve claimed for payment on can default to 0.0000. Read Part C (Column C8): ‘Activate less BPS area’ for more information. If the information shown in the ‘activate less BPS area’ is incorrect, update the ‘Applied for’ column to show the area you want to claim for payment on, and click ‘Save’.

If a land parcel has been added to your business (SBI) or there’s been a mapping change, after you’ve created your application, there are additional steps that you need to follow to make sure that the latest information appears in your application and in your application summary. Please read the ‘Important’ box within the ‘Making changes to land use’ section for more information.

Make changes to Part E: Common land grazing rights

Changing E1 to E5

If you need to make changes to your common land, you can do this in the ‘Update rights for common land’ screen. From the ‘Business overview’ screen click ‘Update commons’. Onscreen ‘Help’ is available and will guide you through using the commons screens step-by-step.

Click on the row you want to change and a ‘Common Declared Rights’ table will appear on the screen. If the table is empty and you want to add common land rights, click ‘New page’.

If you have split rights that can be used on more than one common, the information in the ‘common rights declared’ table will show the number of these rights allocated to each common to make BPS 2021 payments.

Enter the total number of these rights that you hold against each common on which they can be used and we will perform the 2022 apportionment calculation for you.

Then, follow the steps below under the heading ‘If you have common land rights not showing in the application summary’.

Changes to E3 or E4

If any information has changed, please send us supporting documents to show the updated type of commons rights or number of rights.

Clearly write your SBI on everything you send to us, and then post your evidence to us – you can find our address in the ‘Contact us’ section.

New Forest

If you’re a new farmer in the New Forest, who started commoning in 2021 and will claim BPS on the New Forest for the first time in 2022, you will be allocated a reference amount based on your marking fees paid for 2021.

However, there is a threshold of 20 Livestock units and you will not be allocated more than this.

You should use your BPS application to declare an interest in the common rights you have in the New Forest and under the ‘Number of rights of this type’, enter ‘9999’.

Changing E6

The information in column E6 on your application summary updates based on the information in the ‘Update rights for common land’ screen, but you need to follow the steps below under ‘Important’.

It will update to make sure you are always claiming the rights that you have. If, for any reason, you want to reduce the rights you are claiming for, you can do this in the ‘Activate less commons’ screen. Read ‘Part E Activate less commons’.

Important: After you’ve made changes to your common land you need to follow the steps below to update the information in your application and your application summary.

• Go to your application, from the ‘Business overview’ screen, click ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your claim’, then ‘Open’.
• Click ‘Make changes to your application’, then ‘Activate less commons’.
• Make sure the rights you want to claim in the column ‘Do you want to activate entitlements’ have the Yes (‘Y’) box filled in. You can fill in all the Yes boxes by clicking ‘Activate all’.
• Click ‘Save’ then close the ‘activate less commons’ screen.

When you generate a new application summary, the updated information should show on it.

Part H: Entitlements

This part of your application summary is for information only. If you think the information is incorrect, you can check it on the ‘View entitlements’ screen.

Transferring entitlements

If you want to transfer entitlements online, from the ‘Business overview’ screen, click ‘Transfer entitlements’. ‘Help’ is available onscreen.

If you think the ‘View entitlements’ screen shows the incorrect number of entitlements and you still want to transfer them, fill in an RLE1 form and send it to us.

On your application, declare your land and BPS eligible area as you normally would. When we process your application, we’ll check your entitlements balance and make any updates we need to. This is so we can pay you for the correct number of entitlements you have based on the eligible land you claim for.

Only the business that has the entitlements at midnight on 16 May 2022 can use them to be paid in that scheme year. This means all entitlement transfers for the BPS 2022 scheme year also need to be made by midnight on 16 May 2022.

If you want to lease your entitlements to the same business year after year call us on 03000 200 301 to extend the original lease. Only the business leasing out the entitlements to another business can extend the lease, not the business leasing the entitlements from another business.

For more information about transferring entitlements, read the ‘Basic Payment Scheme: rules for 2022’.

If you’ve already sent us an RLE1 to transfer entitlements

If the transfer was for entitlements to be used in 2022 but the transfer hasn’t yet been completed, you can still make the transfer online using the Rural Payments service.

Once you’ve transferred your entitlements online, you need to send us an email (from an email address that is registered in the Rural Payments service for a person with at least ‘BPS: Amend’ or ‘Entitlements: Amend’ permission for the business transferring the entitlements) or call us asking to withdraw your RLE1 form.

The email subject heading should include ‘BPS 2022 - Withdraw entitlements transfer RLE1’. You’ll need to tell us the following information, from your RLE1 form, in the email.

• SBI of the business transferring the entitlements
• SBI of the business receiving the entitlements
• Type of transfer: state that this is an entitlement transfer RLE1
• The method of transfer, for example, sale, gift or lease
• The number of entitlements and payment region they’re in.