A treasure trove of information: the CLA’s guidance notes

Did you know that as a CLA member, you have free access to a library of online guidance notes? A CLA guidance note provides practical advice and tips on a range of different matters that affect rural businesses, from heritage property to hedgerow management, permitted development rights to probate. CLA experts distill their knowledge into a handy online document that you can access at any time.

There are more than 150 guidance notes currently available for members to read on the CLA website. They cover the gamut of members’ business interests and are designed to help you with the practical challenges that you may be encountering. They provide starter information on most member queries.

Guidance notes are updated regularly, and we provide new additions when governments in England or Wales introduce new policies or schemes, or when we notice common member queries on the same theme.

We offer guidance notes on the following themes:

• planning and development
• tax, wills and probates
• agriculture, natural capital markets and woodland and forestry schemes
• property maintenance including heritage and energy efficiency
• infrastructure, including telecoms, electricity and water
• legal issues such as tenancy rules and public access
• ...and many more

Some guidance notes are designed to help members with strategic business questions. For example, our Rural Asset Management Plan guide and template provides a step-by-step structure to look at the future of your business, and growth opportunities. GN17-23 gives an overview of natural capital funding – both public and private - for anyone who wants to know what is available, and whether this could offer a new source of income for them. Similarly, GN13-23 offers an overview of the new agriculture schemes in England and how they all fit together.

Others relate to more detailed queries. For example:

• How entering into a grazing licence affects inheritance tax (GN07-21)
• Glamping structures and planning in England (GN12-24)
• How to comply with domestic Energy Performance Certificates and Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in England and Wales (GN26-23)
• What members in Wales need to know about the Renting Homes Wales Act (2016) (GN04-23, GN09-22, GN10-22, and GN11-22)
• The new legislation on hedgerows in England (GN16-24)

We aim to cover a topic from the many different angles you need to consider. Take for example employee accommodation; we look at taxation (GN15-14), minimum wages accommodation offset and additional charges (GN06-24) and what happens when an employee retires (GN10-21).

There are two easy options to find the guidance note that you are looking for:

1. You can search using a keyword or keywords in the search bar in the top-right corner of any CLA webpage.
2. You can click on the ‘Advice’ tab in the website navigation bar. It will take you to the main advice page from which you can find not just our guidance notes, but also past webinars and handbooks. The most recent guidance notes appear first, but you can also sort them by subject using the filter bar.

In both cases, when you click on the guidance note you want to read, you may be prompted to login to your online MyCLA account to read it – but don’t worry, there are prompts if you have forgotten your login credentials or have not registered your CLA membership online.

Our aim is to provide answers to most questions, but of course, it’s impossible to cover every eventuality.

So, if you are in any doubt about your circumstances (and your membership package includes one-to-one bespoke advice), you can reach us via email advice@cla.org.uk, by contacting your regional office or calling our national specialist team on 020 7235 0511.