News

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 18th April 2024 We are almost always in the middle of a story. The past is not over but rather a prologue. The future is yet to come, evolving from now but with surprises. There is rarely a conclusion, though sometimes hindsight suggests a move to the next Act. The present is simply a waystation, not an answer. More than for some time, we are living amid accelerated change and disruption, perhaps familiar with what we have...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 12th April 2024 The Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice for England was published on Monday. It is a voluntary Code for all parties to tenancies (that is, landlords and tenants) and their advisers, giving guidance as to approach, conduct and behaviour. It looks to support good relationships and help where difficulties arise. Intended to improve practice, it does not change the law or alter any contract and...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 4th April 2024 Keir Starmer’s Labour Party (like the Conservatives in Canada) clearly feels it is working a rich electoral vein in positioning itself as the advocate for more housing, while other parties carve up the opponents between them. Following his references in the autumn to “bulldozing” the planning system for England, the document issued for the launch of its local election campaign suggest that...

The Scottish Government has advised that with effect from Monday 1st April councils have the power to charge up to double the full rate of Council Tax on second homes. It goes on to state that 29 of the 32 Scottish local authorities have confirmed their intention to use the power. A second home is classed as any home that is not used as someone’s primary residence but that is occupied for at least 25 days in a year....

From 2nd April small sites are required to demonstrate biodiversity net gain as a condition of planning consent (unless exempt). Small sites are defined as: residential development where the number of dwellings is between 1 and 9 on a site of an area 1 hectare or less, or if the number of dwellings is unknown, the site area is less than 0.5 hectarescommercial development where floor space created is less than 1,000 square metres or total site area is less than 1 hectaredevelopment that is not...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 28th March 2024 Today’s developing agricultural policies have a twin-track character, embracing both farming and nature, albeit in different ways across the UK. As they develop, so the interactions become more complex. There are clear synergies with farming’s dependence on nature but, even with the well-advanced evolution of England’s new schemes, the tensions here saw this week’s swift decision limiting the use of...

DEFRA has announced today (25th March) that there will be a cap of 25% of a holding able to be entered into 6 actions under the Sustainable Farming Incentive that take land out of direct food production. The actions are: IPM2: Flower-rich grass margins, blocks, or in-field stripsAHL1: Pollen and nectar flower mixAHL2: Winter bird food on arable and horticultural landAHL3: Grassy field corners or blocksIGL1: Take improved grassland field corners or blocks out of managementIGL2: Winter bird food...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 7th March 2024 Agricultural Property Relief (APR) from Inheritance Tax has again proved a very robust relief. In yesterday’s Budget with the financial constraints of poor growth, the Treasury issued the Government’s answers to last year’s major consultation: it will work with interested parties to understand what environmental transactions and assets really involve and develop a shared analysis of the issues and so how...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 29th February 2024 Perhaps, as in T.S. Eliot’s words, “Humankind cannot bear very much reality” (Four Quartets). Much of our public discussion seems based on making gestures, that the wish is better than the deed, the protest more material than the answer, rather than facing the realities of our problems and tackling them, explaining the issues and applying the practical remedies. One of the greatest challenges of...

Members are reminded that the window for transferring delinked payment reference data opens on 15th February and closes on 10th May. For more detail, see our website note of May 2023....

The RPA has published an online SFI Action Checker: Check what SFI actions you can get paid to do on your land (defra.gov.uk). This tool can be used to assess which SFI Actions are compatible with the land types on a holding, and directs users to the relevant guidance. It does not assess eligibility for the SFI scheme, but rather is intended as an entry-level tool for those scoping out which actions may be suitable for them....

It has been brought to our attention that some members have been receiving scam emails purporting to be from the CAAV and stating that their membership is overdue. If you receive one of these scam emails please delete it. Any genuine emails regarding membership would come from dorota@caav.org.uk or abby@caav.org.uk.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 22nd February 2024 The Government went in strength to this week’s NFU AGM: the first Prime Minister’s visit for 16 years as well as the new Secretary of State, Steve Barclay, and Farming Minister Mark Spencer. Always an occasion for announcements, more were made than usual, fleshing out policy development and schemes. Following Steve Barclay’s speech to the Oxford Farming Conference, the theme for England is now...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 15th February 2024 DEFRA’s Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) is the element of England’s new regime that sits best with commercial farming. There are some non-production options but, generally, the actions offered can readily fit with or alongside commercial farming. Actions available or becoming available include improving soils, helping the adoption of precision farming and multi-species pastures with their benefits...

The Forestry Commission are running a free event on 22nd March 2024 to provide an introduction to woodland creation opportunities, funding and support. The event will take place at the Holiday Inn, Scotch Corner, DL10 6NR. More detail and booking is available here: Woods Mean Business: tree and woodland event for land and forestry agents Tickets, Fri 22 Mar 2024 at 09:30 | Eventbrite....

The Welsh Government has published a written statement on Riparian Ownership: Maintaining Watercourses, highlighting guidance document produced by NRW which explains to landowners how riparian ownership works, and how it might affect them.

From today (12 February), all new major housing developments in England are required to deliver at least a 10% Biodiversity Net Gain. A collection of related CAAV resources and external guidance is available on our website here: BNG - CAAV Collected Guidance - Version 1 - The Central Association for Agricultural Valuers.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 8th February 2024 It started in Holland but has now spread to most EU countries in the mainland of Europe, from Spain to Poland as farmers bring their tractors to town make their points. Each country’s protests though follow its national agenda, perhaps only unified by the EU’s pernickety farm-level auditing of the CAP and the growing force of the EU Green Deal. With a wider background of western malaise and ahead of...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 1st February 2024 Many very large things are being asked of us and our land. We are being asked to answer climate change and adapt to increasingly volatile weather, reducing emissions, sequestering carbon and managing water, improving nature and eco-systems, providing housing and other development including infrastructure – and still provide food. All that is to come from the finite area of our islands at a time of growing...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 25th January 2024 It can be worth remembering in today’s rapidly changing circumstances and new environmental offers that, where law or taxation make special provisions for farming, their benefit can be limited to where farming is being done. They are not entitlements, but conditional. Where agricultural activity ceases, the benefit of those special provisions can be lost. The provisions are to assist those who are farmers,...

Applications have now opened for the 2nd round of the Improving Farm Productivity Grant. For more detail on the grant, see our website note of 14th December. Since the initial publication of the scheme guidance, DEFRA has increased the proportion of the costs that the grant will cover from 40% to 50% for robotic and automated equipment....

Two major energy projects have reached milestones in their consenting. Sizewell C has announced that it has satisfied the commitments made in its Deed of Obligation. These were preliminary tasks required under the Development Consent Order (DCO) and preconditions for the start of the formal construction phase. The start of construction is not conditional on the final investment decision (FID) which is expected to be taken later in 2024. The Drax Bioenergy carbon capture and storage project was...

Following the start-of-the-year announcement by the DEFRA Secretary on schemes and coming farming policy, DEFRA is hosting several webinars to brief advisers and farmers. The Farming and Countryside Programme (FCP) will be holding an adviser specific webinar on Monday 22nd January: Advisor Webinar - the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI24) Tickets, Mon 22 Jan 2024 at 15:00 | Eventbrite. DEFRA are hosting a webinar on 26th January. Janet Hughes and others from the RPA will be providing an...