Small Woodland Grant Scheme to be opened shortly

He explained: “There has been an increase in the number staff made available by Forest Service to administer the various woodland and forestry schemes.

“We also know that there has been a relatively small uptake for the 2024/25 Forest Expansion Scheme (FES).

“Given these circumstances, that staffing is now in place, should allow for the opening of the SWGS in the very near future.”

The Premier Woodlands’ representative is also hopeful that Forest Service will be in a position to issue letters-of-offer for grant within a small number of weeks of applications for both FES and SWGS being submitted.

He continued: “I am calling on Forest Service to green light the maximum number of applications that it can accept for FES and SWGS over the coming weeks.

“There is ample funding available to make this a reality. Assuming that all offers of grant aid can be issued and verified by the end of February 2025, this would enable forestry development companies like Premier Woodlands to get on with the establishment work during the remainder of the 2024/25 planting seasons.

“If approvals are delayed until later in the spring of next year, the window of opportunity to get actual tree planting work carried out becomes extremely small indeed.”

All applications for SWGS must be made on line. The application deadline for this seasons FES has already passed.

John Hetherington again: “Staff at Premier Woodlands will be available to help farmers and landowners work through every step of the application process.”

The anticipated opening of the 2024/25 SWGS measure will follow-on from the recent confirmation that the Forestry Expansion Scheme (FES) is to continue for two consecutive planting seasons: 2024/25 (this season) and 2025/2026 (next season).

“This 2-season planting development gives a very welcome degree of certainty for the private woodland sector in Northern Ireland, looking ahead,” said John Hetherington.

“However, a number of important issues remain to be confirmed on the part of Forest Service. Most importantly, these include the unit-cost rates of planting grants that are made available to scheme applicants.

He added: “These unit-costs have not been reviewed since the official opening of the scheme: seven years ago.

“In the meantime, inflation and the more than significant increases in all the costs associated with field work of any kind have greatly eroded the value of these unit-costs within the various woodland and forestry schemes.

“These measures were designed to cover all the direct costs associated with the development of new woodlands: this is no longer the case.”

Meanwhile, John Hetherington is also confirming that the decision by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to include agricultural land within the remit of the UK’s inheritance tax measures will have an impact on the private forestry sector.

“The value of trees remains totally exempt from all taxes: including income tax and inheritance tax,” he added.

“However, the land on which trees are planted will be included within the remit of the new inheritance tax measures, proposed in the recent Budget.

“As a Chartered Forester, I am regularly asked to value woodland and forestry plantations

“This includes separating the value of the tree crop from the land value included within the farm/estate.

“Given that woodland and forestry plantations are coming onto the market on a regular basis across the UK, this is a relatively straightforward exercise to complete.”

The Premier Woodlands’ representative continued: “Given that the land on which trees have been planted for commercial purposes must be retained for this use into the future, land valuations linked to woodlands and afforested areas tend to have lower values than traditional farm land, their relative exposure to inheritance tax will be proportionately smaller.”

“However, it is imperative that professional accountancy advice is secured when it comes all matters relating to taxation.”

John Hetherington concluded: “The good news is that international timber markets remain very stable. As a consequence, an investment in private forests and woodland commercially managed remains a very attractive option.”

For further information, contact Premier Woodlands on 028 7963 4236.