The Farmers Mart Oct/Nov 2014 - Issue 36 | Page 50

PROPERTY

Prime agricultural & sporting
estate for sale Nidderdale
The Summerstone Estate, a 1,400 acre property located in the heart
of the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is being
marketed through Carter Jonas, with a guide price of £2.75m.
The estate, which is located mid way
between the popular market towns of
Pateley Bridge and Masham, offers
the opportunity to purchase a prime
upland agricultural and sporting
estate that generates £60,000 per
annum, and also has potential to
generate further income.
The estate comprises an equipped farm
let by virtue of a Farm Business Tenancy
which comprises a new farmstead
including a 4 bedroom barn conversion
and versatile range of general purpose
agricultural buildings.
The Estate also includes a traditional
Dales farmhouse with adjoining stone
barns with planning consent for
conversion to residential use.

www.carterjonas.co.uk

Land in demand as investors
& lifestyle buyers jostle
for best plots
Shortages of agricultural land will
continue to stoke prices for the
foreseeable future, according to
sector specialists, Bruton Knowles.
Commenting on the latest RICS/RAU
Rural Land Market Survey, Ben Compton,
rural affairs specialist from Bruton Knowles
Gloucester office, said demand remained
very strong for parcels of farmland – with
or without houses and buildings – and
in some areas demand is undoubtedly
increasing.
“We are seeing considerable interest
from different sectors, including investment
buyers for both substantial portfolios and
smaller acreages. Residential lifestyle
buyers have also returned to the market,
reflecting the improved confidence in the
national economy.
“Commercial farmers have been the most
active as buyers in recent months, although

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Oct/Nov 2014 FarmersMart

the recent downturn in arable commodity
prices may slightly temper their enthusiasm
to acquire additional land in the next few
months.”
The RICS/RAU report revealed that
farmland in the UK had risen by four per
cent in the first half of 2014 to £8,607 an
acre. Average land prices are now 8.4 per
cent higher than they were a year ago.
Bruton Knowles predicted that the
recently concluded reform of the CAP
system was unlikely to have a significant
impact on future land prices.

Head of Rural Estate Management Philip
Cowen said: “Recent demand has been
driven principally by commercial farmers,
but demand from lifestyle farmers is starting
to come back.
Wales saw the largest price increase over
the last 12 months, rising by 19 percent .
“Land in Wales is now standing at
£8,625 - higher than anywhere else
across the rest of the UK and nearly
seven percent greater than the national
average.”
He concluded: “The imbalance between
supply and demand appears to show no
sign of waning. In the face of growing
concerns around housing shortages
and burgeoning populations, investors
increasingly are seeing land as an
economic safe haven where reasonable
long term returns are very possible to
achieve without undue risk.”

To read more, visit www.farmers-mart.co.uk