Transfers of SPS Entitlements
Transfer of SPS Entitlements
You can transfer entitlements at any time of the year but you can only transfer them to another farmer.
A farmer is a natural or legal person (or a group of such persons, whatever the legal status of the group or its members in national law):
- with a holding in the European Union,
- who exercises an agricultural activity, which includes maintaining the land in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition
The farmer receiving the entitlements (the transferee) must have an SBI. If they do not have one they should call our Customer Service Centre on 0845 603 7777 or
click here for the Customer Registration Form and guidance.
You can transfer entitlements:
- by sale or gift with or without land.
- by lease with land.
- through inheritance.
You may also need to transfer entitlements if your business is involved in either a merger, scission or other business change which results in a new business being formed and an new SBI being issued.
The person signing the RLE 1 must be properly empowered by the business transferring the entitlements out before they sign it.
Six weeks notice
You can transfer entitlements at any time during the year, but you must fill in and send an RLE 1 to us at least six weeks before you want the transfer to take place. If we do not object to the transfer, it will take place on the date you have given us on the form.
If you do not give us an effective date of transfer, or you give less than six week’s notice, the transfer will take place six weeks from the date we received a valid RLE 1.
If the transferee wants to activate the entitlements for payment in that scheme year, we must receive your RLE 1 by midnight on 2 April. This gives us six weeks to complete the transfer by 15 May which is the claim submission deadline. If we receive your RLE 1 after midnight on 2 April the entitlements will be allocated to the next scheme year.
Please read the
RLE 1 Guidance for more information.
Page published: 27 January 2012