Latest data confirms busy 2024 market for farms and bare land

Land agents’ data for the first nine months of this year confirm a high level of land market activity in both farms and bare land.    

Analysis from Savills shows the market has been at its most active since 2018, and that the growth rate in average values has cooled, with a rise of 0.6% in the 12 months to the end of September 2024.

This follows a slowing trend which began in June 2023.

See also: Contract farming agreements see changes to head off pressures

Deals are being done for properties of all sizes as market activity recovers from its post-Brexit and pandemic era lows, says the firm.

Its 2024 third-quarter update shows a higher supply for all farm types and sizes in England, Scotland and Wales.

By the end of September, 169,000 acres of farmland on 864 holdings had been publicly marketed across Great Britain, 21% more than in the same period of 2023, and 15% above the average for 2012-16.

In all regions of England, supply exceeded the average for the same period in 2012-16, significantly so in arable regions, with the East Midlands seeing an uplift of more than 50%.

Savills’ rural research associate director Andrew Teanby says the story is more complicated in Scotland and Wales.

“There has been 39% more farmland marketed in Scotland so far this year compared to last year, but the 2024 total of 32,800 acres is still 8% below the 2012-16 average,” he says.

In Wales, 12,300 acres have been marketed, 30% more than the 9,400-acre average for 2012-16, but four percent less than last year, when the market was particularly active.

There have been 112 more properties marketed than the 752 in 2012-16, with 94 of these being between 50 and 249 acres.

Savills head of rural agency Alex Lawson says this ties in with the firm’s view that high interest rates have resulted in more farmers selling off small or off-lying blocks of land to reduce their debt burden.

Sales of 100 acres or more

Strutt & Parker’s farmland database records the sale of all farms, estates and blocks of publicly marketed land in England of more than 100 acres.

This shows 86,200 acres launched publicly during the first nine months of the year, which is the second highest area in 10 years.

Supply is above average in most regions, but is particularly high in the south-west of England and the East Midlands.

The average price of arable land sold so far during 2024 is put at at £11,000/acre by Strutt & Parker, slightly down on the £11,200/acre recorded across 2023.

More than half of pasture land also now sells for £8,000/acre or more with the average in July-September 2024 at £9,300/acre.

Key statistics include:

• Supply from January to the end of September this year is 30% above the five-year average and the second highest for 10 years
• The number of farms for sale is the highest since 2015, with more larger farms and estates for sale than is typical
• Demand has eased from 2021 and 2022’s strong market and is increasingly location-driven
• Demand is strongest for cereals and mixed farms, or properties with diverse income streams.

“Prime farms in locations where there tends to be wealthy buyers continue to sell well and often over the guide price,” says Sam Holt, head of estates and farm agency at Strutt & Parker.

Smaller blocks of bare land can also command very high prices, often bought by neighbouring farmers with rollover money.

“However, overall, the feeling among agents is that demand has eased since the frenzy of the post-Covid period of 2021-22,” he says.

“This means there is a second tier of farms, which can be extremely good quality but in less popular areas, which are taking longer to sell.”

North-east retirement sale

High Eddis Bridge Farm © Michie Group

In County Durham, the recently formed Michie Group trades across the north of England and is launching High Eddis Bridge Farm, at Consett, which comes to the market following the retirement of its owner.

With 99 acres, a bungalow and a modern steel-framed building, it has a guide price of £725,000 for the whole, and is also available in two lots.

There are nine fields, all in permanent grassland.

The three-bedroom bungalow has an agricultural occupation condition attached. It has been unoccupied for a number of years and is in need of refurbishment.