East Midlands let land demand strong, but rents reviewed down

Some East Midlands farmers are still paying top prices to secure rented land despite depressed farmgate returns.

Agents in our regional round-up say there is fierce competition for land let on the open market at a time when sitting tenants are negotiating reduced rents.

In the sales market, the number of buyers has reduced but the market is still active, with rollover funds beginning to circulate. 

See also: Diversity drives demand for East Anglian farmland

Tim Atkinson, managing director at JH Walter, Lincoln

A few land owners are taking the opportunity to sell parcels of land to provide a cash cushion.

Dairy farmers in particular are feeling the effects of low farmgate prices.

There is general downward pressure on both Farm Business Tenancy (FBT) and Agricultural Holdings Act tenancy rents, with some negotiated reductions.

However, where land is offered to let on the open market, there are usually multiple bids with some at levels higher than economics suggest is prudent.

There are still sales where premium prices are achieved, often in a hot parish where there has been no land to buy for several years.

We are just starting to see some evidence of the rollover buyer keen to invest proceeds from the sale of residential development land.

Bare arable land in a quiet, remote parish, or with issues such as poor access, has been the hardest to sell this year, as well as any farm considered by the market to be overpriced.

In Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, it is farmers who are driving an active land market, although the exceptional demand that we saw two years ago has now gone in most areas. 

Chris Templar, associate at Bletsoes, Thrapston

There is no doubt that the past 12 months have been more challenging, but demand for commercial farms is still strong and this continues to be reflected in sale prices.

Commercial farms that fit the criteria for those with non-agricultural windfalls to spend remain in most demand in the East Midlands. 


Prices have probably dropped back slightly since the highs of spring 2015, but some buyers, especially those with windfalls, or those competing against such a purchaser, continue to remain bullish despite the result of the EU referendum.  


The most active buyers have been commercial farmers, and the least active have been lifestyle buyers.

It appears there has been an increase in the number of properties being launched to the market.

However, I suspect this is as a result of sellers wanting to cash-in while land prices remain strong. 


We have managed to agree rent reductions for some tenants, especially those who have tendered strongly for FBTs.

However, much to our surprise, we have seen plenty of evidence of very strong rents still being tendered for commercial arable farms.

Ben Shouler, partner at Shouler & Son, Melton Mobray

If land is in the right place for neighbouring farmers who want to expand or invest, then sale prices have not altered for multi-use land. 

Traditional pasture can be trickier to sell but we have found that most sales have been on guide price or above for land parcels up to 75 acres.

In this region, our clients have not sold or purchased land due to the possible implications Brexit may have.

We probably have more people on our books looking for land and farms than we used to, which may indicate strength in farms as assets.

Some investors could look at land differently if payments are reduced significantly and this may have a knock-on effect on values for large acreage land sales.

Smaller blocks I feel will continue to be driven more by location than subsidy.

Our personal experience indicates that there is no evidence on forced land sales.

However, with the strain on commodity prices this may alter in the next few years.

Having said that, farmers’ resilience to source additional income from non-farming activities generally defer any forced land sale.

What were farmers buying in 2016?

School Farm

Five miles from Retford, near West Drayton in Nottinghamshire, the farm has about 69 acres of predominantly Grade 3 arable land with a grain store and livestock sheds in a central yard, plus two houses.

It sold through JH Walter in the region of its £1.4m guide price.

Land at Old Weston

Sales of large blocks of commercial arable land on the Northamptonshire-Cambridgeshire border have been rare.

Bletsoes sold 370 acres of Grade 2 and Grade 3 land at Old Weston, nine miles east of Thrapston, above its £3.18m guide price.

Grassland at Bisbrooke

A 22-acre block of grassland at Bisbrooke, near Uppingham in Leicestershire, sold at a Shouler & Son auction above its lower guide price estimate of £170,000.