Grant or payment · Wales
SFS Optional: Habitat Review (route to enhanced habitat management funding)
Request a free farm visit from a field support officer who draws up a five-year habitat management plan and schedule of works, which you can then apply to fund.
- From
- Welsh Government / Rural Payments Wales
- How much
- The review itself pays nothing; it leads to applications for area-based habitat payments and capital works (rates set in the technical guidance).
- Who can apply
- SFS Universal Layer claimants with eligible land (designated sites such as SSSIs go through NRW instead).
- Opens
- 27 August 2026
What you’ll need
- 2026 SFS Universal Layer claim
- Management control of the land for the full grant term
How to apply
- Tick the request on the SFS Optional dashboard in RPW Online
- Applications are scored and selected
- Field support officer visits and prepares the plan
- Accept within 21 days, then apply for the habitat actions funding
Guidance published 27 August 2026, updated 14 September 2026. Pilot selection w/c 14 September 2026; next selection due February 2027, then about every two months. Withdrawing after an offer bars a new request for 12 months.
Similar schemes
- Capital Production and Efficiency grant (SFS Optional and non-SFS versions) OpenWelsh Government / Rural Payments Wales40% grant towards standard listed equipment such as handling systems, EID and weighing kit, precision spreaders, soil aerators, boreholes and water harvesting equipment.
- Infrastructure and Equipment grant - slurry, nutrient and biosecurity (SFS Optional and non-SFS versions) OpenWelsh Government / Rural Payments WalesGrant for larger farmyard investments such as slurry stores, lagoon covers, low-emission spreaders, manure stores, silage clamps and yard drainage, plus biosecurity facilities for SFS farms.
- Small Infrastructure grant - yard roofing (SFS Optional and non-SFS versions) OpenWelsh Government / Rural Payments WalesGrant for new roofing over livestock feeding, gathering or manure storage areas to keep clean rainwater out of dirty yards.
- Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) 2027 - tapered Coming soonWelsh Government / Rural Payments WalesThe legacy BPS for farms that have not joined the SFS, being cut each year until it ends after 2028.
- Integrated Natural Resources Scheme (INRS) Coming soonWelsh Government / Rural Payments WalesCompetitive funding for collaborative groups of farmers, foresters and others to develop and deliver landscape or catchment-scale nature projects; the next window will focus on water quality.
- SFS Optional: Designated sites grant (SSSI management with NRW) Coming soonWelsh Government / Natural Resources WalesFunding to carry out the schedule of works in a Designated Site Management Plan agreed with NRW for SSSIs and other designated land on your farm.
Checked against the official pages on 29 October 2026. Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4. Always read the official page before you apply.