The Farmers Mart Oct/Nov 2013 - Issue 30 | Page 65

PROPERTY & buildings Commercial arable farms continue to lead the way Andrew Black, Farm Agency Director at Savills York, gives us his round up of the land market. “Our latest research shows that farmland values are becoming increasingly polarised, with buyers being location specific and concentrating on land quality, potential yield and cropping flexibility. The same study highlights that average prime arable values rose by 2.3% across Great Britain during the third quarter of 2013 to just under £8,300 per acre. This equates to an 8.5% value increase in average prime arable land since the beginning of the year and a year-on-year growth of 14.5%. The improved weather conditions during the Summer and into the Autumn this year benefitted harvest yields with reports indicating they were better than expected. In addition conditions have been ideal for Autumn drilling. This should reduce some of the financial pressures faced by some farmers and may reduce the number of debt related sales. As we move into the final quarter of 2013 and review forecasts for the year, it is clear that Savills forecast growth of 8.8% per annum for average farmland seems to be a realistic one given lack of supply in the market place. This growth has primarily been driven by the strength of the market for good quality commercial arable land and the best dairy farms. However the market continues to be diverse and there is a widening gap between the prices paid for the best and poorest farmland. Farmland continues to be a safe asset and a serious investment choice. As an investment, in hand and let farmland and forestry have an excellent track record over the long term and have outperformed other assets in recent years. Supply across the country continues to be historically low and research suggests that this year the volume of publically marketed farmland is lower than the average relative supply for the last three, five and ten years. With this in mind and given the strong appetite amongst buyers and farmers for extending / purchasing new farms this can only lead to an increase in farmland values as predicted by our research. We can therefore expect an active start to 2014!” www.savills.com NEW INSTRUCTION TODRIDGE FARM, GREAT WHITTINGTON, CORBRIDGE, NORTHUMBERLAND Corbridge: 6miles, Hexham: 9.5miles, Newcastle upon Tyne: 21 miles, Newcastle Airport: 15 Miles. • Attractive and substantial family house • Two 2 bed detached cottages • Pair of 3 bed semi-detached cottages • Extensive range of traditional farm buildings • About 339 acres of grassland • About 12 acres of woodland • EPC rating = F About 354 acres Guide £2.75 million. Savills | York | Andrew Black [email protected] 01904 617819 WELL EQUIPPED EQUESTRIAN YARD YEDINGHAM, MALTON • Private setting • Spacious family house • 28 stables • 3 1/2 furlong oval gallop • All weather lunge ring • EPC rating = F About 11.56 acres Guide £825,000 Savills | York | Andrew Black [email protected] 01904 617819 Andrew Black MRICS FAAV Tel: [phone] Mob: [phone] E: [email protected] James Sadler BSc (Hons) MRICS Tel: [phone] Mob: [phone] E: [email protected] Private “sale and leaseback” opportunities available from 100 acres upwards. Contact Andrew or James in confidence. Savills (UK) Ltd, 13 – 15 Micklegate, York YO1 6JH T: 01904 617800 F:01904 617801 E: [email protected] To read more, visit www.farmers-mart.co.uk FarmersMart Oct/Nov 2013 65