Contrasting farm sales offer renewable energy income

The planned launch of a well-equipped former dairy farm with two solar arrays is expected to generate good interest from commercial farmers and investment buyers.

Cleave Farm near Bideford, Devon, is billed as having versatile arable and pasture land along with renewable energy generation providing a strong investment return.

Selling agent David Hebditch, a partner at Carter Jonas, says the sale is lotted eight ways, with a guide price of £5.7m for the whole.

“The holding is centred around the former dairy complex that serviced a herd of some 500 cows and includes a well-presented, detached, four-bedroom period farmhouse and an extensive range of farm buildings,” he says.

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Cleave Farm

“Located to the north of the farmstead are two solar farms, both let on secure agreements generating a sound investment income.”

Cleave Farm has almost 261 acres of land, about 78 acres of which is down to solar.

The arable and pasture land, with well-drained, fine, loamy soil, sits at 80-100m above sea level.

Some of the land is being sold subject to an overage clause with a 50% clawback for up to 25 years if the area on which the conditions apply is developed.

Extensive buildings

There is an extensive range of modern dairy, livestock and storage buildings, also a traditional brick, stone and cobb wall barn.

A further single-storey barn, previously used as a farm office and dairy, also has three adjoining garages. 

The farmhouse is surrounded by traditional barns with potential for alternative uses.

A three-bedroom cottage on the edge of the main holding is included.

A site hosting a third party-owned 50kW wind turbine has been let on a 21-year term since March 2014, a lease that is excluded from the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. 

David says the starting rent was £5,000 a year plus 20% of the Feed-in-Tariffs (Fits) for energy generated of more than 160MWh by the turbine annually. 

The rent is reviewed annually upwards in line with the retail price index (RPI) and is currently £7,515.68 a year. 

The lease for a 4.6MW solar park offers a secure renewable energy income stream from an RPI-indexed “upwards-only” rent. 

The scheme itself provides in the region of 105MWh of electricity to the grid and a guaranteed base rent of £29,088, which has been indexed to about £44,000 for 2024. 

The lease was instigated in 2013 for a term of 25.5 years, with the option for the developer to extend it for a further five years, providing the buyer with potentially about 20 years of income. 

A second solar park, set on 54 acres, generates an additional £60,321 a year.

Black Rock Farm

Black Rock Farm © Roger Parry & Partners

Another farm that has earning capacity from renewables is being launched in Wales – this time a large-scale poultry unit offering broiler production on a nine-acre site near Wrexham.

Black Rock Farm, built seven years ago on a greenfield site, is located less than a mile from Maelor Foods, where its birds are processed, and also the site of its feed and chick supplier, so this claims to be one of the lowest-carbon poultry farms in the country.

A further contract from Maelor Foods is available, says selling agent Roger Parry & Partners.

The farm has two commercial broiler buildings with planning consent for 82,000 birds, on 4,120sq m of growing space, and an Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control permit.

Six Mitsubishi CRHV 600 ground source heat pumps installed in 2019 generate a Renewable Heat Incentive payment of about £4,000 a year, with payments set to run until March 2041.

One of the sheds has a roof-mounted 49.84kW photovoltaic array, installed in 2019 with Fits payments of about 4.03p/kW. These payments are set to run until March 2039.

The infrastructure sits on 1.5 acres, leaving additional land with expansion potential, subject to planning.

A static caravan currently located on the site is included in the sale, but its retention will be subject to planning consent being granted.

Offers of more than £2.25m are being sought for Black Rock Farm.