The deadline for applications to formalise historical public rights of way has been scrapped by the government.
With the window for applications now effectively continuous, Thrings Senior Associate Richie Rees explores what this could mean for rural landowners.
What has happened?
Applications to the ‘definitive map’, the official record of footpaths and bridleways, seek to add public rights of way to the record, bringing certainty to landowners and users about the paths that exist and must be made available for public use up and down the country.
The saga of the definitive map has been a rollercoaster over the past decade, originally introduced with an application deadline of 1 January 2026, this was repealed by Defra in 2022 before being reintroduced as part of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, this time moved to 1 January 2031.
In scrapping the deadline altogether, the government has claimed it is supporting struggling local authorities facing the ‘burden’ of recording historic rights of way in time with the claim that the paths would no longer be lost to the public.
Applications currently can take months, or even years, to process, with the backlog continuing to grow, a frustration both for the local authorities processing them and the landowners who face uncertainty on how it could affect their land.
What will this mean for landowners?
In losing an explicit deadline, it’s fair to say that landowners have lost a sense of clarity around when a final version of the definitive map would be complete with an open-ended timeframe for when applications on their land could arise.
Arguably, however, the bigger concerns of this recent change are both the lengthy backlog of applications to the Definitive Map and also the onerous demands that an application places on a landowner, being a longstanding burden before a decision is made through what has become a rather repetitive and convoluted legislative process, first at local authority level and then potentially via public inquiry.
There will, of course, be some applications that present a legitimate benefit to the public’s access through the countryside, giving both the landowner and the public certainty as to where the boundaries of public and private land exist, in law and in practice.
What should landowners do?
One of the most common problems in the application process from a landowner perspective is the failure to properly identify the legal and factual requirements set out in the statute, often due to a lack or delayed involvement of legal advisors, which can lead to applications being submitted that are likely to fail due to an insufficient legal argument and/or irrelevant evidence. This can then lengthen the process further as revised submissions are made.
With this in mind, it is more important than ever to engage with professional assistance at the outset and invest the time and focus needed into collating the right evidence on the first attempt, presenting a persuasive legal argument and producing a compelling case before any formal action is taken.
Thrings’ Agriculture team is one of the largest of its kind in the UK with decades of experience in successfully supporting its farming and landowner clients to achieve their aims and the potential for their business. Its lawyers are ranked in the highest tier by both the prestigious Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners directories and have been chosen by the NFU to act for its members in more counties than any other firm.
Find out more about how we can support farmers, food producers and rural communities on our Information for Farmers page.