Transferring a Countryside Stewardship (CS) agreement

When a Countryside Stewardship (CS) agreement holder wants to transfer all or part of the land under their agreement (transferor) to another person (transferee), the transferee has the choice to continue managing options under the CS agreement on the transferred parcels of land. Capital only agreements are not eligible to be transferred.

A CS agreement transfer can take place when there is a change in occupancy or ownership due to:

change in business structure, which causes a change in Single Business Identifier (SBI)

force majeure or exceptional circumstances

a business restructure resulting in a new SBI being issued by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA)

An agreement transfer could involve a transfer:

to one or a number of different beneficiaries

to an existing agreement holder, though this is not a requirement to be eligible for a transfer

The following scenarios are not considered an agreement transfer:

a change to a name or contact where the SBI remains the same. To make changes to the agreement holder’s details, read the Rural Payments: registering and updating your details guidance.

probate cases where the SBI remains the same. We can still make CS payments to the existing SBI, as long as there is an executor. If the beneficiary has received a new SBI, this will involve a transfer of agreement.

When transferring a CS agreement, the transferor and transferee can be, or can include, the same individuals where they’re registered under different SBIs (for example, where a business is restructured).

An agreement transfer is a continuation of the original agreement either in whole or part. The transferee must meet the same eligibility criteria and follow the same rules set out in the relevant CS manual or guidance for the year the transferor’s agreement was set up.

The point of transfer is when the transferee accepts the agreement.

Agreement transfers are a ‘lift and shift’ of the options on the transferred land, with no re-negotiation of options allowed.