Land use in the UK has become an increasingly prominent topic in mainstream media as policymakers, farmers, developers, environmental organisations, and communities consider how a finite resource can meet a growing number of demands. From supporting food production to providing space for nature, renewable energy, and delivering new homes and infrastructure, we increasingly expect this limited resource to meet and support multiple demands. While this has been a recent prominent topic, it is far from new. Land use has evolved considerably since the first Town and Country Planning Act in 1947 (1,2,3). With so much expectation of our land, multifunctionality is becoming increasingly important. The challenge is not simply to decide which use should take priority, but to find ways for land to deliver multiple environmental, economic and social benefits wherever appropriate.
Following my previous blog on Forest Carbon's website “Balancing land use change and food security in the UK”, this blog takes a more comprehensive look at the different demands being placed on UK land and explores how these priorities could be balanced through more multifunctional approaches to land use.
Baseline Scenario – where are we now?
To paint the broader picture, the entire land mass of the UK is 24.4 million ha of land. Agriculture accounts for the majority, but land is also used for housing/development, forestry, nature, renewable energy, recreation, and a range of other uses. These categories are not always mutually exclusive: the same area of land can, when appropriately planned and managed, provide several benefits at once. As the world is facing climate change, supply chain disruptions, rising costs of living, among other things, the UK needs to make the land available fit all the demands we have of it.
Land and Food Security
In my last blog I discussed the importance of farmers in the balancing act of land use in the UK. The role farmers play has become even more important as recent weather extremes have highlighted the vulnerability of UK agricultural production due to the significant impacts of climate change (5). While this has been discussed and anticipated for years, the last few years have really brought to light the precarious situation of food security in the UK.
As we have seen (and discussed in another blog, “Why the UK’s heatwaves make peatland restoration more important than ever”) the UK has been facing rising temperatures in the form of long standing heatwaves, resulting droughts, and subsequently deluges of rain when it finally does come (6). This swinging of extremes has made the last three years of farming the worst the UK has ever seen with each year topping the last (7). This highlights just how exposed UK agriculture can be to extreme weather. In fact, the 2026 harvest is already set to be the worst harvest on record and is currently expected to be around 1.35 million tonnes smaller than the previous record-low harvest (5). Poor domestic harvest can also contribute to significant price increases particularly in fruits and vegetables which have been particularly sensitive to the heat (8).
In the past a poor crop year meant the UK could pull on its various supply lines and increase imports to meet consumer demand. However, relying on global supply chains does not remove the risks associated with climate change. Countries around the world are facing the same climate challenges and prices are being driven up globally along with geopolitical factors making importing more difficult as well (7).
All of these pressures revealed the cracks in the current UK food production system and is leading the push to modernise and create a climate resilient farming system that supports the nation (2,3). However, it’s not just as simple as that, building resilience will require more than changes to farming practices alone. It also depends on viable farm businesses, a skilled workforce, and a functional farming supply chain, from processing and storage through to distribution (9).
This is one form of land use in the UK that is currently struggling to be efficient but at the same time needs to be improved and developed even further to support the population of the UK.
Land and Development
The population in the UK is growing and the need to develop more housing and communities is another key consideration of our land. In England alone there is the goal of developing 1.5 million new homes while also meeting all other land use targets (2). Delivering new housing alongside environmental objectives can present a complex planning challenge. Development needs to be directed towards appropriate locations while taking account of existing farmland, biodiversity, flood risk, infrastructure, and other environmental considerations (10). On top of that, the housing sector is also facing the same challenges that our food system is with a limited supply of resources for actually building these homes (10).
So far I have covered land and food as well as land and homes which both take up a significant portion of land use in the UK. In addition to these large factors, we also expect land to have capacity to also support renewable energy development. The recent land use plans for both England and Scotland outline the desire to electrify the UK in order to decrease dependence on imported fossil fuels and move the nation towards net zero targets by cutting emissions (2,3). As with the food system, we are seeing price surges in petrol and energy bills due to geopolitical reasons driving up scarce resources (11). The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan aims for at least 95% of the UK’s electricity generation to come from clean power sources by 2030 (12). It has been more prudent now than ever to transition the nation to a reliable renewable energy source, but where will that development go? According to England’s Land Use framework, it won’t take up much more land (only 1%!) than is already dedicated to it. The Land Use Framework highlights opportunities to develop renewable energy farms, such as solar and wind developments, alongside agricultural activities (2). The intention behind this plan is that food production and livestock grazing can continue and intensify to meet demand, while dependence on fossil fuels decreases (13).
Land and Nature Restoration
For Forest Carbon, this wider land use discussion is particularly relevant when considering woodland creation and peatland restoration. Both can contribute to climate and nature objectives while also providing wider benefits to landscapes and communities. The Woodland Carbon Code and the Peatland Code provide frameworks for quantifying and certifying the carbon benefits from eligible woodland creation and peatland restoration projects. Both of these codes can provide ways in which nature restoration is made feasible for many landowners due to the ability to generate carbon units to help finance eligible nature restoration activities. With the demands already outlined of our land, nature restoration in all forms, is vitally important to help reduce the UK’s carbon footprint, reach net zero emissions by 2050 and support biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Looking into the future of these structured credit markets and the potential to further nature restoration, the Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code are investigating the quantification of measurable ecological benefits that would translate to biodiversity credits (14). While this is still in the early stages of trialing the determined quantification methods, this could support one area of land meeting the goal of multifunctionality within the land use frameworks by enabling projects to deliver multiple environmental outcomes while creating additional opportunities to attract private finance through voluntary nature markets.
Alongside voluntary nature markets, there are also statutory requirements such as that of Biodiversity Net Gain in England (BNG). BNG requirements are used to measure the enhancement of habitats when an area undergoes development land use change in order to account for the changes made (2,15). Together, voluntary carbon and biodiversity markets and regulatory mechanisms such as BNG can encourage the co-benefits that nature restoration can bring. For example, peatland restoration allows for the preservation of a carbon sink, improves water quality, and supports biodiversity meeting the goal of multifunctionality of an area of land that meets multiple goals within the land use frameworks (2,3). In some locations, restoration can also remain compatible with agricultural uses such as grazing, furthering the multifunctionality of one land area.
When these demands are considered together, it is clear just how much we are asking of a finite resource. Food, homes, energy, carbon, biodiversity and water all need to be considered within the same landscape.
The case for multifunctional land use
The emerging policy response to these competing demands is increasingly centred on multifunctionality. England’s Land Use Framework and Scotland’s Fourth Land Use Strategy have both been referenced throughout this blog. The keyword in these updated frameworks is multifunctionality. This is vital when land in the UK is extremely limited, as it has to serve more than one purpose. England’s framework is executing this by providing a platform for cross sector communication that allows for land to be allocated to its best use possible rather than each sector acting on their own then blocking each other from the development of their own projects and goals (16). Meaning that this will allow for housing development to move forward in areas that are not suitable for nature restoration or farming while also making sure areas that are suitable for those things are dedicated to both. These principles aim to influence spatial planning and support better coordination between different land uses and help ensure decisions consider the wider benefits and impacts of how land is managed.
This also means investing in new agricultural practices that meet multiple goals such as climate resilience, carbon sequestration, and strengthening the nation’s food security. This is being done in Scotland by the creation of Tiered Farming Support in which farmers can receive payments for transforming part of their farming practices into sustainable and regenerative practices in the hopes to incentivise farmers to take action (17). Similarly, in England the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 supports English farmers through payments based on sustainable practices they implement on their farm, with payments available for actions designed to protect and benefit the environment while also supporting food production and farm productivity (2,18). This reflects a wider shift towards recognising that agricultural land can deliver further environmental benefits without necessarily being removed from food production. These systems aim to provide enough support to start the larger scale transition that is required to meet all of the UK’s land use goals.
Policy can establish the direction of travel, but ultimately much of this change happens on the ground. Landowners, farmers and businesses all have a role to play in considering how land can deliver multiple benefits, while private investment can help support projects that provide long term environmental and climate benefits. For landowners, whilst policies and the introduction of spatial planning analysis can help steer direction, it doesn’t overcome some of the practical barriers, such as upfront costs, uncertain returns, access to grants, tenancy arrangements, lost agricultural income, maintenance obligations and the time required to realise environmental benefits. Therefore land-use policy ultimately depends on whether the people managing the land can make these changes viable for their businesses. This is where supporting capital through carbon finance forms part of that wider decision making process.
Where does this leave us?
As ever, land will remain a finite resource that the approach of open communication across sectors appears to be the most important aspect of the frameworks moving forward. While it is still a question of how this will all actually work in practice, we are moving in a positive direction since each individual nation has recognised the importance of this limited resource and have come up with plans to move forward to maximise its purpose in the most sustainable way possible.
Multifunctionality won’t remove every trade off. Some land use decisions will involve choosing between competing priorities. However, there is a clear direction of travel - land use decisions need to become more strategic, more integrated, and more focused on delivering multiple benefits.
This presents an opportunity to look beyond the idea that land can only serve one purpose. Well designed woodland creation, peatland restoration, and sustainable farming practices can all form part of wider multifunctional landscapes, contributing to climate, biodiversity, water and resilience objectives alongside other land uses.
Get in touch if you want to discuss this topic with us.
Interested in woodland creation or peatland restoration?
If you’re a landowner exploring woodland creation or peatland restoration, Forest Carbon can help you understand the options available and whether your project could be eligible for carbon finance through the Woodland Carbon Code or Peatland Code.
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Sources:
- The Land Use Planning System, EIA
- England Land Use Framework, Gov.uk
- Scotland’s Fourth Land Use Strategy, Gov.scot
- United Kingdom Country Profile, BBC
- UK harvest even worse than previously thought, Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit
- State of the UK Climate, Met Office
- United Kingdom Food Security Report, Gov.uk
- The UK drought is a warning: Climate change is a food and public health emergency, the BMJ
- Things are simply impossible at Diddly Squat, The Independent,
- What does England’s new land use framework mean for housebuilders, Construction Excellence Midlands
- Household Energy Bills, BBC,
- Planning for Solar Farms, House of Commons Library,
- DEFRA highlights solar farms’ multifunctional land use, Solar Energy UK
- Biodiversity Crediting, Woodland Carbon Code
- Understanding Biodiversity Net Gain, Gov.uk
- England’s land use framework, Food Farming Countryside Commission,
- Rural Support Plan, Rural Payments
- Sustainable Farming Incentive, Gov.uk
This article was originally published on Forest Carbon in October 2026.