{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/agricultural-holdings-units-of-production-england-order-2024/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/agricultural-holdings-units-of-production-england-order-2024/note.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/2024/30",
  "legislation_title": "The Agricultural Holdings (Units of Production) (England) Order 2024",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/agricultural-holdings-units-of-production-england-order-2024",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of the Order)\nThis Order prescribes units of production for the assessment of the productive capacity of agricultural land situated in England as required by paragraph 4 of Schedule 6 to the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 (c. 5) (“the 1986 Act”) and sets out the amount which is to be regarded as the net annual income from each such unit for the period of 12 months beginning with 23rd February 2024 for certain purposes.\nAn assessment of the productive capacity of agricultural land is required in determining whether or not the land in question is a “commercial unit of agricultural land” for the purposes of the succession provisions in the 1986 Act (in particular sections 36(3) and 50(2)). A “commercial unit of agricultural land” is a unit of agricultural land which, when farmed under competent management, is capable of producing a net annual income which is not less than the aggregate of the average annual earnings of two full-time male agricultural workers aged 20 years or over (as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 6 to the 1986 Act).\nArticle 3 provides that, in determining this annual income figure, whenever a particular farming use mentioned in Column 1 of the table in the Schedule is relevant to the assessment of the productive capacity of the land in question, the units of production and the net annual income specified in Columns 2 and 3 respectively of that table will form the basis of that assessment.\nArticle 3 also includes net annual income figures for land which was, in 2022, an eligible hectare within the meaning of Article 32(2) of Regulation (EU) No1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy (EUR 2013/1307).\nArticle 4 revokes the Agricultural Holdings (Units of Production) (England) Order 2023 (S.I. 2023/18) which is superseded by this Order.\nArticle 5 provides that this Order ceases to have effect at the end of 31st August 2024. This is in line with the commencement of the repeal of Schedule 6 to the 1986 Act (contained in Schedule 3 to the Agriculture Act 2020 (c. 21)) on the day appointed by regulation 2(b) of the Agriculture Act 2020 (Commencement No.1 and Transitional Provision) (England) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/597).\nArticle 6 provides that this Order will continue to have effect on and after 1st September 2024, for the purpose of determining an application to the First-tier Tribunal made under Part 4 of the 1986 Act for a direction entitling the applicant to a tenancy of an agricultural holding on the death or retirement of a tenant where the date of the death or the date of the giving of the retirement notice was on or before 31st August 2024.\nMaps showing less favoured areas and the moorland lines in England (the “England LFA Maps” and the “Moorland Map of England 2009” as referred to in article 2) can be accessed online at https://environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/8dc2b71d-8cf5-427f-8af9-41a9dbba495a. Alternatively, a .pdf copy can be accessed online at https://magic.defra.gov.uk/StaticMaps/Less%20Favoured%20Areas%20(England).pdf. A paper copy of the England LFA maps and Moorland Map of England 2009 can be obtained by emailing agriculturaltenancies@defra.gov.uk or by writing to the Farm Tenancy Team at Innovation Productivity and Science Division, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF.\nAn impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/30/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-28T21:36:10.109872+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}