Throughout 2016, H&H Land and Property report that the land market in the North East is certainly not in decline with sales showing a definite increase in levels of interest, demonstrating that to some extent it has plateaued.
With farms and bare land seeing the highest levels of interest, these predominately have been ring fenced, with good access, and certainly if priced realistically, both will sell well. In the case where they maybe have not sold so well, these have tended to have issues such as boundary or access problems.
Commenting on the land and property market in 2016, Will Parker, Associate Director and Chartered Surveyor for H&H Land and Property said: “We have seen a large influx of properties onto the market this year, and rather than sales being launched due to low farm gate prices, most sales have been as a result of retirement.
“Buyers have expressed no more caution than in previous years and all have sold well, which is a great indicator that there is still a strong demand for land and farms, and good land sells.
“Whilst there has been interest from investors, the trend indicates that the most active purchasers are farmers looking to expand their enterprises, which demonstrates a desire for continued growth,” added Will.
The North East region has a strong tenanted sector and people appear to be willing to expand their horizons and move greater distances for the opportunity to rent a farm. One example of this is a young farmer from Ireland who travelled to submit tender applications for a number of farms in the Yorkshire area.
Will goes on to say: “Our prediction for 2017 is that we will continue to see an increase in the number of farmers retiring, as we have seen in 2016. Although this will free up a number of tenanted holdings, we may find that some estates are keen to consolidate these to increase the viability of their individual holdings.
“We anticipate that another reason for land and farms coming onto the market will be investors, keen to cash in on their investments whilst the land market remains strong. Of course there will still be the more cautious investors looking to purchase land in these times of financial uncertainty. Either way, we would expect that the land values are likely to remain constant, especially as we do not foresee a massive increase in the supply of land to the market.
“Farmers currently in financial difficulty are more likely to re-structure their finance package in a period of extremely low interest rates, rather than sell to reduce the debt. Key buyers will still be investors looking for tax efficient assets, expanding farmers looking to utilise low interests rates and also landowners looking to rollover sale proceeds from the recent activity in the house building sector.”
Ring fenced land in East Gainford in County Durham, totalling 75 acres sold with a strong guide price for the area of £9,400 per acre. The Grade two agricultural land with a small barn sold quickly, and significantly in excess of the guide. This sale once again demonstrated that there are plenty of purchasers looking for quality farms and blocks of land.
H&H Land and Property, is one of the H&H Group of businesses, and operates from offices in Carlisle, Durham, Kendal, Middleton-in-Teesdale and Newtown St. Boswells. It offers the rural community a broad range of services, aiming to provide unrivalled access to sound professional advice.
For further information about H&H Land and Property visit H&H Land and Property or E-Mail info@hhland.co.uk.