Selling wood for domestic use in England (2024)

FAQs

Do I need a license to sell firewood in the UK? ›

You'll have to pay application, registration and any additional testing fees. If your wood meets the legal standards and you've paid the fees, it will be certified and you'll be: added to the Ready to Burn certified wood fuels list. given a certificate with a unique ID for each fuel certified.

Wood for domestic use can only be sold in quantities of less than 2 m³ if it has been certified under the Ready to Burn scheme. Sales of wood fuel greater than 2 m³ do not need to be certified. Woodsure has been appointed by Defra to run the certification scheme for wood fuel.

Household wood waste is regulated by RPS 249. This covers when household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) can accept domestic hazardous waste wood and store it with non-hazardous household waste wood. It was introduced on 1 August 2021 and will be withdrawn by 1 April 2024.

Ready to Burn wood means it's been certified for immediate use and has moisture content of 20% or less. Firewood sold in volumes under 2m³ should have the Ready to Burn certification logo with the company name and certificate number. The label must be present at point of purchase.

In smoke control areas, you can only burn unauthorised fuels, such as wood, on Defra exempt appliances. These have been rigorously tested and demonstrate low smoke emissions. You can only burn unauthorised fuels in Ecodesign stoves if they also appear on the list of Defra exempt appliances.

Is removing firewood legal? Everything within a wood, including fallen branches and logs, is the property of the woodland owner. This means removing logs from a wood without consent is considered theft. Make sure you have the consent of the wood owner before you remove any wood.

Forestry as an investment

So you can buy a plot of woodland and hope that it goes up in value by the time you come to sell it. Or you can buy a forest and sell the timber that it produces. As an investment, forestry has performed well over recent years.

Walnut trees are always one of the most demanded trees in the wood industry. Oaks, maples, cherry, and ashes are also valuable trees. A high-quality veneer tree with a large diameter can be worth a lot but they are rare. A common rule is the bigger the log, the more it is worth.

If you're importing wood from a non-EU (third) country, you must present the certificate to HMRC along with your Customs declaration. This shows that a satisfactory physical examination has been carried out. You must also declare that the consignment contains 'produce of phytosanitary relevance'.

So, essentially, lumber in the USA means timber in the UK. In a nutshell: in the UK, timber can be anything from a piece of sawn wood through to a processed product. Lumber is much less processed, and often means a felled tree. Wood can be used more loosely to refer to any timber or lumber.

Is it illegal to carry a plank of wood in UK? ›

Introduced in the medieval times through the Metropolitan Police Act, this law thankfully provides some exceptions. It's okay to carry a plank of wood provided that you are loading it onto a vehicle or offloading it.

In England, as of the summer of 2023, it is illegal to burn coal (excluding smokeless coal like anthracite) or wet wood in your home. You can burn only burn kiln dried logs, dried logs, or smokeless fuels. As above, if you live in a smoke control area, you can only burn logs if you have a DEFRA-exempt stove.

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Warm up your home and enjoy a magnificent blaze with our premium selection of firewood. Choose from a variety of kiln dried kindling wood, premium fuel logs, premium kiln dried birch hardwood logs, softwood logs and more. Browse online, or buy in-store at B&M!

In a smokeless zone you can only burn approved smokeless fuels such as Homefire, Ecoal50 or Phurnacite. Firewood is not an authorised fuel and cannot be used in smokeless zones, unless burnt on a DEFRA exempt appliance (see below).

Business licence – do I need one in the UK? In general, you can set up a small business without a business licence. All you need to do is set up as self-employed, choosing a legal structure for your business and registering with HMRC. But many specialised business activities need you to have a business licence.

Seasoned wood

Firewood that has been air dried and stored under cover for at least 12 months (or 2 summers) can be dried down to around 20% moisture content (depending upon species, climate and storage) and may be suitable for burning on the day purchased.

According to Woodsure's Ready To Burn application form, costs for new suppliers will be a minimum of £507.60. This includes a 'one off, new supplier application fee' of £122.40 plus an annual registration, including 'routine site audit, listing, fuel test and certification' fee of just over £385.

A pinless meter uses a sensor pad that just contacts the wood's surface to give a moisture percentage reading. A moisture reading of over 20% is considered to be wet wood.