Few opportunities for Essex farmland buyers in 2012
Whilst headlines in 2012 proclaimed the continuing rise in agricultural land prices buyers in some areas were unlikely to have found something to purchase. Availability: Just over 2,600 acres of farmland was offered for sale in Essex in 2012, in 16 blocks averaging 166 acres each. Three good sized farms failed to find a buyer meaning that only 1750 acres were sold in the open market achieving a total sale price of around £16.5m. Private sales have increased the total sales slightly but not to the same extent as previous years. Suffolk, on the other hand, saw over 7,000 acres publically...
Read MoreUK AGRICULTURE SITS ON AN EQUITY GOLDMINE
Banks are “falling over themselves” to lend to farmers because of the growing value of agricultural land and the sector’s excellent credit record. The result is that farmers can afford to be bold in their investment decisions because lenders are less concerned about what purpose borrowed funds are used for. In turn this is providing a wide variety of enterprise opportunities. The report and the confident outlook comes from Simon Dixon Smith of Land Partners (LLP), the new advice team for farmers in the eastern region. “Banks will offer funds on a five year fixed term at around 4.5%,” he...
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