Finance Act 2025

61 Agricultural property relief: environmental management agreements U.K.

(1) In Chapter 2 of Part 5 of IHTA 1984 (agricultural property relief), omit section 124C (application of agricultural property relief to land in habitat schemes) and insert—

“124C Environmental management agreements

(1) For the purposes of this Chapter, land is to be treated as agricultural property occupied for the purposes of agriculture if—

(a) the land was agricultural property throughout the period of two years ending with the day on which it became subject to an environmental management agreement, and

(b) since that day, it has been used and managed in accordance with the agreement (whether or not the agreement is still in place).

(2) A building occupied with land that is treated as agricultural property occupied for the purposes of agriculture under subsection (1) is to be treated in the same way if—

(a) it is used in connection with the use and management of the land in accordance with the environmental management agreement (whether or not the agreement is still in place) and is of a character appropriate to the land,

(b) either—

(i) it was built for the purpose of being used in connection with that use and management (whether or not the agreement was still in place), or

(ii) it was occupied with the land immediately before the land became subject to the environmental management agreement and was of a character appropriate to the land as it stood at that time, and

(c) it is not otherwise agricultural property occupied for the purposes of agriculture.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), where a building is occupied with land that is treated as agricultural property under subsection (1) and land that is otherwise agricultural property occupied for the purposes of agriculture, the question of whether the building is of a character appropriate to the land is to be considered by reference to all of that land.

(4) The agricultural value of property that is agricultural property as a result of this section is to be taken to be the value that would be the value of the property if it were subject to a perpetual covenant prohibiting its use otherwise than in accordance with the environmental management agreement (whether or not the agreement is still in place) (and section 115(3) does not apply).

(5) In subsection (1)(a) the reference to agricultural property includes land treated as agricultural property under this section.

(6) In this section—

• “environmental management agreement” means a legally enforceable agreement between an occupier or other person with a right in land and a public authority which—

  (a)

  is entered into for the purpose of protecting, restoring or enhancing the natural environment, or natural resources, of land or water, and

  (b)

  in practice requires the land to be used and managed in a way that would (apart from this section) prevent it from being agricultural property occupied for the purposes of agriculture;

• “land” includes pasture and woodland;

• “public authority” means a person that is in entering the environmental management agreement—

  (a)

  exercising public functions, or

  (b)

  acting under arrangements with a public authority in relation to the exercise of the authority’s functions.

(7) This section does not apply in respect of an environmental management agreement that ended before 6 March 2024.”

(2) The amendments made by this section have effect—

(a) in relation to transfers of value made on or after 6 April 2025, and

(b) in relation to occasions on or after that date on which tax falls to be charged under Chapter 3 of Part 3 of IHTA 1984.