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Guidance

Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant round 1: guidance for invited applicants (Closed)

Invited applicants can apply for a grant to add a veranda onto, or to upgrade or replace existing laying hen or pullet housing to improve animal health and welfare. Applications closed at 11.59pm on 28 April 2026.

Updates to this page

From:
Rural Payments Agency and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Published:
14 May 2024
Last updated:
29 April 2026
Show all updates

  1. Applications for the Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant closed at 11.59pm on 28 April 2026.

  2. Information about redacting sensitive data when returning evidence added.

  3. Amended the email address to ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk as the Grants Service email addresses are no longer in use.

  4. Updated to provide further information to customers for the Comprehensive Projects scheme about the requirements. Question 4.1 updated and 2.2 specifications tab.

  5. Removed Exeter Address

  6. The deadline date has been extended to 11.59pm on 28 April 2026.

  7. The deadline date for the scheme has been extended to 28 April 2026.

  8. How to submit a laying hen housing for health and welfare grant round 1 full application for comprehensive projects - invited applicants. Additional information has been given under 'Providing quotes' at Section 2.4 Costs and suppliers tab. A paragraph detailing the Printable spec tab has been added.

  9. The online checker has now closed and invited applicants have until 30 January 2026 to submit their full application for the Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant. All guidance updated and new guidance added on how to submit a full application for both Veranda-only and Comprehensive projects.

  10. HTML attachment about the grant updated to include closing date for applications.

  11. Updated 'Details' section to show Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant online checker is now live and closes 18 September 2024. Updated 'How to apply' guidance for comprehensive and veranda-only projects to include link to 'Start' button for online checker.

  12. Amended 'About' page to confirm we will start to invite eligible applicants to make a full application from October 2024.

  13. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

About the Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant round 1, who can apply and what the grant can pay for (Closed)

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Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant round 1 specifications (Closed)

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How to apply for a comprehensive project as part of the Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant round 1, invited applicants (Closed)

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How to apply for a veranda-only project as part of the Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant round 1, invited applicants (Closed)

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How to submit a Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant round 1 full application for Veranda-only projects, invited applicants (Closed)

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How to submit a Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant round 1 full application for Comprehensive projects, invited applicants (Closed)

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Details

Only invited applicants can apply for round 1 of the Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant. Applications closed at 11.59pm on 28 April 2026.

Find out about other grants and funds.

What the grant is for

Round 1 of the Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant is to provide animal health and welfare benefits by:

  • replacing or upgrading existing laying hen or pullet housing (a ‘comprehensive’ project)
  • adding a veranda onto existing laying hen or pullet housing (a ‘veranda-only’ project)

Grant value: between £5,000 and £500,000.

Who can apply

You can apply for a grant if you’re:

  • an existing commercial egg producer or pullet rearer
  • a registered keeper of 1000 or more birds, which must be on site when you filled in the online checker or have been within the last 6 months

When you can apply 

Invited applicants have until 11:59pm on 28 April 2026 to submit your full application.

How to apply 

  1. Read how to apply for a comprehensive project as part of the Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant round 1 or how to apply for a veranda-only project as part of the Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant round 1.

  2. Read how to submit a Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant round 1 full application for Comprehensive projects (invited applicants) or how to submit a Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare grant round 1 full application for Veranda-only projects (invited applicants).

  3. Complete your application and email it with any supporting documents to ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk.

The success of your application will depend on the:

  • score your project achieves (comprehensive projects only)
  • number and value of applications we receive (comprehensive and veranda-only projects)

If your application is successful, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will send you a grant funding agreement (GFA).

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