WB3: Large wildlife box

Find out about eligibility and requirements for the large wildlife box item.

• From: Rural Payments Agency and Natural England
• Published: 2 April 2015
• Last updated: 3 February 2025 — See all updates

• Grant type: Capital item
• Land use: Biodiversity, Uplands and Pollinators and wildlife
• Tiers or standalone items: Higher Tier and Mid Tier
• Funding (per unit per year): Up to £100

This item is part of Capital Grants. You must read the Capital items: guidance for applicants and agreement holders to understand the rules and how to apply.

How much you’ll be paid 

£38.28 per box.

How this item benefits the environment

Installing a large wildlife box provides artificial nesting and roosting sites for large birds, in particular barn owls and kestrels.

Where you can use this item 

You can use this item to provide a wildlife box either:

• for the target species barn owls or kestrels
• for other target species with the support of a Natural England or the Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB) adviser
• where there is summer and winter foraging habitat available all year for the target species on or near your land

What you must do to use this item

You must:

• place each box in an appropriate location
• clean out the boxes in the autumn, unless it’s being used by hibernating or roosting bats

Evidence you must keep 

You must keep photographs of the completed work and provide them with your claim.

You must also keep and provide on request:

• any consents or permissions connected with the work
• receipted invoices or bank statements where a receipted invoice is unavailable
• photographs of the proposed site for each box
• a record of the date you clean out the boxes (unless they’re used by bats or invertebrates)

Read the record keeping and site visit requirements in the Agreement holder’s guide: Capital Grants, Higher Tier capital grants and Protection and Infrastructure grants for more information.

Advice to help you use this item

The following advice may help you to use this item, but you do not have to follow it to get paid. It’s not part of this item’s requirements.   

Locating boxes for different species

Large wildlife boxes can be used anywhere on your holding. You can use them with habitat management actions such as moorland, rough grassland, boundary field margins. You can also use on in-field or boundary trees or on historic buildings.

Keep boxes in their original location if they’re being used. If they are not being used after year 3, ask Natural England for relocation advice.

Keep boxes strapped to trees with wire and hose or rubber to prevent tree damage.    

Constructing the box

The Barn Owl Trust has information on the best locations and how to construct a box (kestrel boxes generally follow similar construction guidance).

The box should be at least 1km away from any motorway, dual carriageway or similar major road.

Entrance holes should be:

• at least 100 millimetres (mm) diameter, 100mm by between 100mm and 130mm square
• up to 150mm by 150mm for owls
• up to 210mm by 300mm for kestrels

Each box should also:

• have a nest chamber floor area of at least 0.16 square metres (that is, sides at least 40 centimetres (cm) x 40cm), between 0.2 to 0.4 square metres (m²)
• have at least 46cm between the bottom of the entrance hole and the nest for owls
• have at least 10cm between the bottom of the entrance hole and the nest for kestrels
• have an external platform below the entrance hole, or a perch with enough room for an entire brood of owlets or young kestrels to exercise and await food deliveries
• be easy to clean
• have wire straps with hose, nylon bolts or aluminium nails to secure the box to the tree or building to prevent damage
• have its tree fixings adjusted each year, so they do not cut into the growing tree or cause the box to ‘explode’ off the bolts
• be sturdy yet light enough to allow safe erection using basic equipment
• be covered with thick roofing felt if outside

Published 2 April 2015
Last updated 3 February 2025 + show all updates

1. 3 February 2025

   General improvement for clarity.

2. 7 November 2023

   Removal of text confirming WB3 Large wildlife box availability under Countryside Stewardship Capital Grants (SFI pilot), as the SFI Capital offer is no longer available.

3. 8 March 2023

   The 'Where to use this item', 'Requirements' and 'Construction' sections of this item have been updated.

4. 1 February 2022

   'Where to use this item' section updated to include detail on SFI pilot.

5. 18 May 2017

   Also available in Higher Tier.

6. 8 March 2017

   Updated for 2017 applications.

7. 29 March 2016

   Information updated for applications in 2016.

8. 2 April 2015

   First published.