Helping Farmers Make the Most of their Biggest Asset
As the North West agricultural sector confronts the uncertainties of radical change in weather patterns, government support and cost inflation, we have teams across the North of England, working hard to help clients make the most of the management, diversification or sale of their farming business.
Planning for a Different Future
For the great majority of farmers and landowners who remain committed to their core business of food production, planning for a very different future has become a fundamental imperative. H&H Land & Estates Director, Thomas Armstrong, is helping hundreds of farming clients across the North of England to plot their route forward across a radically different agricultural landscape.
Generations of farmers in the UK have taken great pride in producing wonderful food to the highest standards of quality, safety, value and animal welfare in the world. Now they are having to adapt to a post-Brexit farming policy focused on environmental good, and a great deal of our work involves helping farming businesses to incorporate those environmental goals into their planning for a productive and profitable future.
Funding support has always been a crucial element in farm economics, but with the end of the BPS, farmers must now find that support from the evolving and increasingly complicated new grant schemes still being rolled out by Defra.
Many of our clients are turning to us for help in identifying opportunities and applying for the right grants at the right time for their landholding. We are encouraging clients to undertake Carbon Audits which benchmark their performance and identify key improvement in their journey to the low or no Carbon future that consumers and the supply chain demand, and in many cases we can access grants for the audits and the improvements.
Because the new UK funding is far from as extensive as the BPS, it is essential for farmers to take every possible opportunity without delay. In areas of environmental improvements such as slurry and silage management, there are currently grants available to achieve the required Environmental Agency standards that may be withdrawn in the future, so it’s important for farmers to cover those costs now before it’s too late.
On-farm diversification has been a key strategy for a growing number of farmers and landowners for many years, but the environmental focus of government support is creating a range of new possibilities for farmers and landowners to explore.
We are still helping many farmers and landowners to diversify in well-known areas such as tourism, and changes in farm building use for example, but many clients need professional help to understand the ways and means of diversifying into woodland planting or Nutrient Neutrality offsetting, or the potential profits and pitfalls of long term land leasing for energy generation or battery storage.
Development
The economic uncertainties of the past year have had the same impact on land purchases for development as they have had on every other area of the land and property market. But H&H Land & Estates Development Director, Helen Russell, suggests that developers are increasingly interested in the right land in the right place.
The current year is looking more positive. We have seen an increase in enquiries since the New Year from developers, and many housebuilders are still looking to sign up strategic land via an Option or Promotion Agreements, as well as immediate sites. Overall, developers are still being more guarded in their approach to land buying, but sites in the right location and with limited issues will still sell well.
Landowners or farmers looking to sell land for development should not sign up with a housebuilder or promoter before doing their due diligence to ensure they are financially and reputationally robust.
Any landowner looking to sign up with a developer or promoter should also ensure they have all their ‘ducks in a row’ in terms of any legal issues that may need to be resolved, such as third-party interests or title issues, and we would recommend taking tax advice from a specialist tax advisor.
Engaging a qualified Agent with experience of dealing with development work will steer you clear of pitfalls and problems, and if landowners are looking to diversify or obtain a second income stream and their land is not suitable for development, the Agent may be able to identify other opportunities to benefit from Biodiversity Net Gain credits or Nutrient Neutrality mitigation.
Buying and Selling
With their unbeatable combination of regional knowledge and national expertise, no one is better attuned to the movement of the rural property market in the North of England than H&H Land & Estates, and Carlisle-based Thomas Armstrong stresses the importance of understanding the local market to achieve a successful sale.
Well equipped and maintained farms continue to sell well in the North West, but high Interest rates are having an impact on the market, and emerging agricultural legislation and the prospect of a general election are undermining confidence at the moment.
We are also seeing many cases of price reductions because sellers are pricing their properties too optimistically for this market. But despite some delays caused by the wet weather, there are lots of properties and land sales coming to the market now, and again, the right properties, presented in the right way and at the right price will find buyers.
Kendal-based H&H Land & Estates Director, Mark Barrow, believes the market is definitely on the rise.
Whilst higher interest rates towards the end of 2023 had reduced the buying power of neighbouring farmers, we are seeing cautious optimism from prospective purchasers and their lenders and expect this to deliver a good level of interest in farms brought to the market this Spring/Summer. Some of this demand will be driven by farmers looking for opportunities to increase their acreage and diversify to counteract the enormous shift in funding support from the Basic Payment Scheme to the environmentally focused support schemes.
Land in the right location has always been in the highest demand, and we are achieving sales both by private treaty and by auction.
We are finding very strong demand for land for investment, farming and environmental purposes. Buyers are clearly willing to pay well for the right property and we encourage anyone considering the sale of their land to fully explore the various options for methods of sale.
As specialists in land auctions in the area, our experience tells us every rural property should be brought to the market on its own unique merits to maximise its value, whether that value ultimately lies in farming, diversification or possibly development.
