Farm and land sales – some 2024 highlights

Overall it was an active year for the farmland market, particularly in England, with deals being done for properties of all sizes, and with private sales being more of a feature.

The growth rate in GB average farmland values cooled, increasing by 0.6% in the year to the end of September. 

See also: Sporting rights on farmland – how to avoid legal issues

Fewer new rollover buyers, high interest rates and falling confidence in the farming sector all contributed to this.

Farmers Weekly asked a range of agents for some of their 2024 sales highlights.

Greening investment

Environmental investment strengthened in the farmland market, including the purchase of 509-acre Harold’s Park Farm, at Nazeing, Essex, by nature recovery company, Nattergal.

Owned by CCLA, an investment manager for charities and local authorities, the ring-fenced farm offered Grade 2 and 3 arable and pasture land, along with properties including a farmhouse, six let cottages and three commercial units.

The sale also included two significant blocks of ancient woodland, totalling 70 acres.

Harold’s Park Farm was marketed by Bidwells at £9.3m and it sold close to that level.

Nattergal has said it will return the farm to wood pasture reminiscent of the deer parks that were there 1,000 years ago.

Mixed farm

A 212-acre mixed farm in Wiltshire sold close to the £4m guide to a young farming family relocating from another part of south-west England.

One of the appeals of Smithwick Farm, near Rowde, was that the ring-fenced holding had no public footpaths or bridleways.

The property was marketed by Woolley & Wallis, with the owners selling because they wanted to reinvest the proceeds in farmland closer to their main enterprise.

The holding included productive pasture and arable land, an extensive range of modern farm buildings, a manège and stabling, a six-bedroom Grade II listed period farmhouse and a two-bedroom cottage.

Glamorgan bare land

Demand for bare agricultural land was a feature of 2024 and that was reflected in the strong price and rapid deal achieved for a 120-acre block of permanent pasture with free-draining soils near Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Herbert R Thomas sold the block for £975,000, which was £25,000 higher than the asking price, with the exchange being completed within a month of the agreement of heads of terms, just ahead of the Autumn Budget.

The seller had imposed a covenant on the land, restricting its use to agricultural or equestrian purposes only and specifically excluding renewable energy, including solar.

The Grade 3B land at St Mary’s Hill was bought by a farmer.

Diverse business

The sale of Frogmary Green Farm in July by Carter Jonas stood out because the property had such a diverse range of assets.

The 85-acre holding at South Petherton in Somerset had been developed by the owners and included an anaerobic digestion plant, a broiler shed with capacity for 30,000 birds, and a wide range of diversifications.

These included a café, wedding venue, spa, two shepherd huts, let offices, three flats, cold storage facilities, a telephone mast and a purpose-built classroom building next to two lakes, generating an annual rental income in excess of £400,000.

This farm was put on the market to allow the vendors to concentrate on the arable side of their business, purchasing another farm to facilitate that.

Marketing agent Jack Mitchell said Frogmary Green Farm had been sold to an investor, exceeding its £4.85m guide price.

Prime arable holding

Demand for good arable land was reflected in the sale of Burts Farm at Drinkstone, with a sale agreed within eight weeks at 20% higher than its £5.545m guide price.

Oliver Holloway, of marketing agent Clarke & Simpson, said the company had already seen some good activity in the land market early in 2024 and had been confident that Burts Farm would appeal to a wide audience of potential purchasers. 

“This was indeed the case, and we had strong local and national interest, resulting in numerous offers for both part and the whole,” he said.

Burts Farm, located in a secluded position between Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, has 421 acres of land, a period farmhouse and a range of modern and traditional farm buildings.

The land was ring-fenced and mostly productive commercial Grade 3 arable land which had been farmed to a high standard for many years under a contract farming agreement.

Organic farm 

Symonds & Sampson described Kitwhistle Farm at Beaminster in West Dorset as a ‘model’ livestock and arable farm when the holding came to the market in the spring.

Buyers agreed and the farm sold for significantly more than its £2.575m guide price.

The organic holding, which was sandwiched between three privately owned estates, was launched when its owners decided to retire after 35 years in farming and it was snapped up by a local buyer.

It came with 170 acres of mostly ring-fenced land, extensive buildings, an immaculately maintained farmyard and a spacious farmhouse.