Small-scale farms on offer in busy summer market

The summer farmland market has been invigorated with a flurry of launches across the UK.

The marketing of a number of large-scale units has caught the eye so far this year, but it is sub-100-acre whole farms that are dominating in July.

David Kivell, senior partner at DR Kivell, said he has already seen good interest from farmers and lifestyle buyers in 72-acre Treswen Farm, near Launceston in Cornwall, which has just come onto the market.

The £1m unit has a farmhouse, modern and traditional buildings and level-to-gently-sloping land, which could be expanded by 50 acres by separate negotiation if a buyer wanted to upscale.

See also: Who is buying Britain’s largest farms and for how much?

“We’re finding that interest in farms at this scale is generally steady and, while enquiries are fewer in number, they are of a greater quality,” he said.

“But we think the second half of the year is going to be quite active.

“Farms in good locations, like this one, which is down its own lane with no near neighbours, are still attracting good interest.”

In the Borders, H&H Land and Property is selling a 68-acre unit focused on producing high-quality haylage and silage from Grade 2 land.

The firm said Whitemire Farm at Duns is split into 17 fields capable of producing between three and four cuts a year.

Penhill Farm, Yorkshire

Good modern buildings include stabling and a menage alongside the farmhouse at offers over £995,000.

The potential of £600,000 Penhill Farm, in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, could appeal to a number of markets, according to selling agent Robin Jessop.

Its location, at West Witton near Leyburn, could entice lifestyle buyers, while the 72 acres of pasture and meadow could be put to livestock or equestrian use.

Agent Tim Gower said Penhill is “a blank canvas” and also includes potential to convert a barn.

On the Northumberland-Cumbria border at Gilsland, George F White senior surveyor Tim Michie has  launched 92-acre Irthing House Farm.

Put to grass, the unit has a farmhouse powered by a small solar PV array, plus a two-bedroom cottage and modern buildings at £950,000.

Watcombe Farm, Dorset

David James & Partners has a similar offering in the Cotswolds with a 90-acre farm down to pasture, complete with a four-bedroom bungalow carrying an agricultural occupancy condition.

Five Acres, at North Nibley, has planning consent for a new agricultural building and a guide price of £1.25m as a whole, or in six lots.

Other end of the scale

While most launches have been small farms this month, those seeking scale have options too.

Symonds & Sampson has a rare, 659-acre chalk downland farm in Dorset’s Cerne Valley.

At £6.25m, Watcombe Farm is a ring-fenced unit put to combinable crops with three houses, 1,100t grain store and a strong focus on conservation.

Five Acres, Gloucestershire

Head of farm agency Andrew Tuffin said cropping together with stewardship agreements, telecoms mast and cottage rents have enabled the farm to return a “comfortable profit every year”.

In north Pembrokeshire a productive 276-acre former dairy farm has hit the market through JJ Morris for £2.5m.

About 240 acres is put to a mix of grassland and arable production – the majority stock fenced – and 30 acres of woodland.

Modern and traditional buildings, a farmhouse and a farmworker’s cottage are also included.