Entitlements and Transfers

Your Payment Entitlements & Transfers for 2026

Here is what you need to know for the 2026 scheme year.

Important Rules on Payment Entitlements for 2026

A comprehensive guidance document outlining all payment entitlement rules will be published prior to the launch of the Entitlement Transfer Service. Key rules are summarised below to assist your business in making informed decisions.

To ensure you do not lose your payment entitlements, you must  

1. Submit a valid Farm Sustainability Payment (FSP) claim in 2026. You need to make an eligible claim for the FSP of at least 3 hectares. 

AND

2. Activate at least 3 payment entitlements. You must activate a minimum of three of your payment entitlements for FSP in 2026. If you don't meet these conditions, you risk losing your payment entitlements.

If you have received a letter stating that you have not met the Historic Years Exercise (HYE) requirements and are not eligible for FSP in 2026, you must: Sell or gift your payment entitlements permanently to an eligible farm business by 15th May 2026, or they will expire on the 16th May 2026. You can only transfer your payment entitlements to an eligible farm business registered with the Department before 18 November 2025. This restriction does not apply to the transfer of payment entitlements by actual inheritance

For additional information see link to the Farm Sustainability Payment Entitlement Information Sheet.

Farm Sustainability Payment Entitlement Information Sheet

Eligibility Criteria and Actions for Payment Entitlements in 2026

To be eligible to apply for the Farm Sustainability Payment (FSP), you must be actively engaged in farming and carry out agricultural activities on your land. Important requirements for eligibility are as follows:

• If you are making a claim covering 5 hectares or more, you must undertake agricultural activity on at least 3 hectares of land that is used to activate your payment entitlements.
• If your claim is for less than 5 hectares, you must conduct agricultural activity on a minimum of 2 hectares of land used to activate payment entitlements.

Farm Businesses that lease out entitlements

If your farm business leases out all its payment entitlements each scheme year, action is required in 2026. Should you fail to submit an eligible FSP application in 2026, and you have previously leased your payment entitlements (prior to 2025) to another eligible farm business with a lease period extending beyond the 2026 scheme year, those payment entitlements will expire at the end of the lease. If you have leased to an ineligible business (one that did not meet the historic years’ requirements) your entitlements will expire on 16 May 2026.

You have the alternative option to terminate the lease in 2026, provided you reach an agreement with the lessor. In this case, you may transfer your payment entitlements permanently to an eligible farm business by 15 May 2026.

Businesses not actively farming in 2026

If you are not actively farming and do not intend to apply for FSP, you must transfer your payment entitlements permanently—either by sale or as a gift—by 15 May 2026. If you do not do so, your payment entitlements will expire. Any payment entitlements leased to an ineligible farm business in 2026 will appear on that business’s entitlement register and, as of 15 May, will be considered as held by that business. These entitlements will expire on 16 May 2026.

Ineligible businesses following the Historic Years Exercise

If your farm business has received correspondence from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) indicating that it has not satisfied the historic years requirements, you will not be eligible to apply for FSP in 2026. In this situation, you must transfer your payment entitlements permanently by sale or gift to an eligible farm business by 15 May 2026, or they will expire.

As above, if you have leased for a period beyond 2026, your entitlements will expire either at the end of the lease (if the transferee is an eligible business) or on the 16 May 2026 (if the transferee is an ineligible business).

You have the alternative option to terminate the lease in 2026, provided you reach an agreement with the lessor. In this case, you may transfer your payment entitlements permanently to an eligible farm business by 15 May 2026.

If your farm business did not meet the historic years’ requirements and is ineligible to apply for FSP in 2026, your business can apply for FSP  in 2027 if it meets the eligibility criteria for FSP and buys/leases in entitlements in 2027.

2026 Transfer Window

If you need to transfer payment entitlements, the service will be open:

📅2 March – 15 May 2026 Transfers can be done through sale, gift, or lease. 

Transfers by lease are restricted to one year in 2026.

How do I obtain Payment Entitlements?

If your farm business does not already own payment entitlements, you can obtain them in a number of ways:

• By leasing or purchasing them from another farm business which currently holds more payment entitlements than it needs, either directly or through an agent or an auctioneer; or
• By actual or anticipated inheritance.

The pages below are currently being updated and will be available in due course as more information becomes available.

• Guide to the Transfer of Payment Entitlements
• Q & A Transfer of Payment Entitlements
• TE1 Actual Inheritance Form
• TE1 Anticipated Inheritance Form
• Entitlements Inheritance Indemnity Form