Protect Your Payments: Why Some Protected Land Needs Natural England's Consent Before SFI Work

Rob Beeson
2 days ago
3 min read

✅ Key Takeaway: Getting this wrong can delay — or even lose — your Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) payments, and could lead to enforcement action.

Natural England has written to land managers with Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) land to explain an extra consent step now that the SFI has reopened in 2026. Here is what it means and what you need to do.

The most important point

Your SFI agreement does not grant consent to carry out work on an SSSI. Some farming activities on protected land need separate written consent from Natural England before you begin. The two are not the same, and one does not automatically come with the other.

What Natural England can consent

Natural England consents specific management activities — the actual things you will do on the ground — not the SFI action titles themselves. So your notice needs to describe the work, not just name the SFI option.

Why consent matters

SSSIs are legally protected. Getting consent early protects your payments and keeps your land thriving. Carrying out work without consent can lead to enforcement action, and to SFI payments being delayed or lost.

If you already hold consent that covers your planned activities for the whole of your agreement period, you don't need to apply again.

How to get consent: step by step

Check whether your land is an SSSI using two free GOV.UK tools — the MAGIC mapping website or the Designated Sites System (DSS) — which let you look up your land's designation.
Review the Operations Requiring Natural England's Consent (ORNECS) list for your particular SSSI.
For each SFI action you plan, ask: will any of my planned management appear on the ORNECS list? If yes, you need consent.
Apply through the Online Consent Portal on GOV.UK — search "Sites of special scientific interest: managing your land."

One important point of order: submit your notice after your SFI application, so it accurately reflects your planned management. Keep a note of your Notice Form reference number for future correspondence.

What to put in your notice

Your notice should set out the who, what, where, when and how. Include:

your owner/occupier details and the SSSI name
your Single Business Identifier (SBI) number
your SFI agreement reference number
where on the SSSI the work will take place
what operations will be carried out, and how
timing and frequency, covering the whole SFI agreement period
machinery and methods, where relevant

Simply pointing to the SFI guidance is not enough — Natural England needs the detail.

Extra detail for upland and grassland actions

Some actions need more information than others — and these are likely to matter most to our members. Upland moorland options and low-input grassland often require detail such as:

stocking types, numbers and timings
cutting or grazing regimes
scrub, weed or supplementary feeding management

If your plans involve any of these, build that detail into your notice from the start.

What happens after you submit

Natural England may come back to you for further information.
Your SFI agreement cannot go live until receipt of your notice is confirmed.
Payments may be delayed if consent cannot be determined — often because of hold-ups in responding to requests for more information.
Consent applies only to the management described in your notice. Any other work must wait until you have further consent.

Your action checklist

Check whether your land falls within an SSSI, and review the ORNECS list against each planned SFI action.
Apply for your SFI agreement first, then submit your notice.
Give full detail — especially for moorland and grassland work.
Keep your Notice Form reference number safe for future correspondence.
If you're unsure, seek professional advice early.

Why this matters

Getting consent right, and getting it early, is what protects both the special places we manage and the payments that help keep upland farming and land management viable for the future.

If you have any questions about how this affects your land, or you'd like support preparing a notice, please contact info@moorlandassociation.org.