England’s first Land Use Framework published

Date Published: 27th March 2026

On 18th March 2026 the government unveiled England’s first Land Use Framework which guides how the country’s finite land resource is managed across competing demands including food production, nature recovery, climate action, housing, and energy infrastructure. 

We were part of the Sustain alliance response along with 21 other organisations back in early 2025, welcoming the Land Use Framework and calling for greater ambition to meet climate, nature, and food security targets.

As well as being pleased to see this first Framework published, we are really happy to see that it emphasises multi-functional land use, valuing the multiple ways that land can deliver for food production, nature recovery, climate goals and energy. 

There are some promising statements in the framework, backing agroecological growing, including: 

• By 2030 ‘farmers and land managers will have clarity on the long-term opportunities for their land and policy on food production. This will enable greater investment in highly productive food growing and farm business diversification and help farming become more profitable.’
• ‘Farmers will be able to access the information that helps them consider where their land fits in a national spectrum of potential uses, whether for sustainably producing high-quality food, supporting nature recovery or increasing resilience to climate change.’ 
• By 2050, ‘agricultural land will be managed to prioritise sustainable food production and environmental benefits.’
• ‘We will produce more of what we consume, partly because more of our land will be efficiently growing the high-value food that people recognise on their plates, rather than ingredients for processed and unhealthy food or animal feed.’
• ‘We will support making under-used land available for food growing and nature recovery where appropriate, working with initiatives like Right to Grow. We will do this by:
  • Clarifying with guidance, such as that for the public authority Biodiversity Duty, that authorities should consider awarding management of land to communities for food growing or nature recovery, and exploring whether further guidance would improve confidence in doing this.
  • Exploring how existing mapping tools and more publicly accessible land ownership data could be used to help local authorities and communities identify under-used land for these purposes.
  • Use statutory guidance to clarify communities’ ability to use new community right to buy powers to protect land that has value to the community, for example for its community food production, natural capital, or access benefits. Under the powers introduced through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, communities will be able to register land that furthers their economic or social interests as an asset of community value and, if the owner of the land puts it up for sale, communities will have the right of first refusal on its purchase.’

Read more in these articles by Sustain or the Soil Association. And see the whole Land Use Framework here.