England - BPS Lump Sum Exit Scheme

PFK

Wednesday, 09 February 2022

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The long awaited details of the Lump Sum Exit Scheme (the "retirement scheme") have been announced by the Government.

If you have given up land since 2020, or are contemplating giving up then this is something which should be considered.

The headline details are:

The payment will be calculated from a reference period of 2019 to 2021, and the average payment received used as the base figure.
The payment will be 2.35 times the average value of claims in the period
The lump sum is capped at £99,875, therefore if your average claim during the reference period exceeds £42,500, you will be capped at a payment of £99,875
The 2021 claim value ignores the reduction in payment received due to the phasing out of BPS.
Reductions for cross compliance breaches, greening penalties etc will be taken in to account.
To receive the payment you must surrender all of your entitlements. If you surrender fewer entitlements than were used in your last claim then a reduction in payment will be applied
You must surrender all but a maximum of 5 ha of agricultural land, this can be done either by selling it, giving it away or leasing it out for 5 years or more. Alternatively, you can plant it with woodland funded through a grant scheme.
You can have given up your land prior to applying to the scheme, but must have occupied some agricultural land on 17th May 2021
Farm buildings, farm houses and non-agricultural land do not need to be given up
To claim payment you must have submitted a BPS claim in 2018 unless you have inherited the land or succeeded to a tenancy since then
All rights of grazing and pannage on commons must be given up
If you claim the lump sum you will not be able to claim under SFI, Countryside Stewardship etc going forwards
The scheme will open for applications in April and close on 30th September
The money will be paid once you have surrendered your entitlements and given up your land
The final date by which claimants have to have retired is 31st May 2024
The payment will be subject to Capital Gains Tax

We are anticipating further details regarding the application process over the coming weeks, but you can now obtain a forecast statement from the RPA, and therefore if you want help with this, or to discuss this matter further then please do not hesitate to get in touch.

T: 01768 866611

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