IHTM24306 - Environmental Management Agreements: Historic agreements
Landowners may have historically entered into agreements with public authorities to manage their land in accordance with an environmental management (EM) agreement. Where these agreements ended before 6 March 2024, they will not be qualifying EM agreements for the purpose of S124C (IHTA84/S124C (7)).
This means that, where land that was subject to an EM agreement that ended before 6 March 2024, it will not be considered to be agricultural property in the agreement period for the purpose of the two-year agricultural property test in s124C(1)(a).
Example
A farmer, Albert, entered into an otherwise qualifying EM agreement on 1 February 2018 for a period of 6 years, ending on 31 January 2024, to restore the soil health of his fields. On completion of the agreement, he brought the land managed under the agreement back into agricultural use.
As the EM agreement ended before 6 March 2024, the land will not qualify for agricultural relief for the duration of that agreement. It will qualify for agricultural relief if it continues to be used for agricultural purposes or it is entered into a new qualifying EM agreement and the combined period of occupation and/or ownership for the purposes of agriculture and the new agreement meets one or both of the periods in IHTA84/S117.