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Land Use Framework for England: What is it and what does it mean for farming?

England
Policy & Views
land
Government
Defra

On 31 Jan 2025, Defra launched details of the new Land Use Framework (LUF) for England, kickstarting a 12-week period of active consultation with farmers and wider stakeholders, before releasing the final LUF later in 2025. This briefing will explain what the LUF is, what it seeks to achieve, and how farmers can - and should - feed in.

What is the Land Use Framework?

The LUF, as described by Defra, will set out a vision for land use in England, and act as a tool to drive better decision-making on how land is used and managed, by farmers and landowners right through to local authorities and developers. It is not described as a framework that will impose land use change. Rather, it aims to bring together the best and most relevant information to inform decisions about how land is used, including land use change where appropriate, in order to maximise win-wins and avoid/mitigate competing demands on land in certain areas.

Why is it needed?

We have limited land available with multiple demands being placed upon it - from house-building and food production to legally binding nature and climate targets. To date, the approach to deciding what happens where, and how, can be generously described as ‘not very joined up’. Siloed thinking about land use, which focuses on single objectives, has dominated the approach to land use in England and is both hugely inefficient and generally drives poor outcomes (think conifer plantations on deep peat or houses built on flood plains). A framework which supports better decision-making, bringing in all relevant data and stakeholders, is therefore much needed and long overdue.

Siloed thinking about land use, which focuses on single objectives, has dominated the approach to land use in England and is both hugely inefficient and generally drives poor outcomes.

Further rationale for a LUF approach is the urgency of taking a joined-up and multi-benefit approach given the pressures society faces from climate change and nature loss. Climate change is already driving real and significant impacts - like widespread flooding - and such challenges necessitate taking a strategic response.  

What does the LUF consultation say about farming and farmland?

The consultation document emphasises several key points relating to farmland and what the LUF intends to recognise and support. Broadly, these are very positive:

  • Sustainable and resilient food production: supporting farmers with long-term business viability and environmental resilience, contributing to national food security.

  • Nature’s recovery and climate mitigation: supporting farmers and land managers to change the way land used and managed meet legally binding nature and climate targets, and also underpin long-term food security.

  • Multifunctionality: all land is inherently able to be multi-functional, delivering more than one benefit to society. 

  • Playing to the land’s strengths: different areas of land, while inherently multifunctional, are best suited to differing uses. Better spatial targeting should support more win-wins and less trade-offs, reflecting each area’s strengths.

  • Co-creation of delivery plans: changes in land use or management that generate multiple benefits depend on the right information being available, and all relevant stakeholders being active participants in plan design and delivery.

  • The right incentives: ensuring the right support and incentives are in place to drive multi-benefit land use or management changes, such as spatial targeting of Governmental  land management schemes, training and advice, and aligned private sector investment.

The document also outlines Defra’s indicative figures for the potential type and scale of land use change in England to 2025:

  • Most (around 80%) of farmland changing how it is managed, e.g. through improved soil management, but not the primary land use.

  • 1% (50kha) introducing small changes such as on farm habitat.

  • 4% (370kha) introducing more substantive changes, particularly more trees alongside food production.

  • 5% (430kha) introducing more substantive land use changes, primarily for nature and climate benefit, but retaining some food production.

  • 9% (760kha) reflecting land use change away from farming, with land fully dedicated to delivering environmental and climate outcomes.

The NFFN will conduct further analysis of these figures to inform our consultation response, and to support our farmer members to do so, however initial assessment is that these blunt categories both underplay and overplay the extent of the changes needed in farming to support profitable, resilient and productive (from food to nature) farm businesses. For example, it is unclear why ‘small’ changes would only apply to 1% of farmland given the strong and growing evidence base that supporting nature on-farm boosts resilience and profitability. At the other end of the spectrum, we would question 9% of land being ‘fully dedicated to delivering environmental and climate outcomes’ as many climate and nature rich habitats depend on sensitive grazing regimes for example.

The NFFN will arrange an online webinar for NFFN members to present our position on the LUF and invite question and discussion - SAVE THE DATE: 18 March

What happens next?

Defra has committed to a period of comprehensive consultation with the farming community across February and March, in addition to the standard online consultation here, which closes on the 25th of April. Workshops with farmers  will take place in six different English regions and Ministers will conduct stakeholder roundtables over the same period. Defra will analyse and incorporate the consultation feedback over May-June and publish the final LUF in July.

Ways to get involved

Given the significance of the LUF for future land use in England, and farming more than any land use, we would encourage our members to get involved in the consultation process, particularly to champion the LUF’s facilitation of a genuine farming transition to nature-friendly and regenerative farming at scale.

The NFFN will:

  • Share further details of the Defra-convened workshops as soon as we know more (when, where, format etc) - asap in February.

  • Arrange an online webinar for NFFN members to present our position on the LUF and invite question and discussion on 18 March (watch out for more info)

  • After the webinar, we will share a guidance document for members to respond to the LUF consultation.