BPS 2020
Basic Payment Scheme 2020 The 2020 BPS scheme opens for online applications on 12th March with a claim deadline of 15th May. The scheme is primarily online and paper forms will only be sent on request. DEFRA have confirmed that the current system will remain in place for this year with payment cuts from 2021. Thereafter payments will continue to fall, on a trajectory still to be agreed, to zero in 2028. The overall budget has been guaranteed for the duration of this Parliament. A new environment scheme, ELMS, as well as productivity initiatives, will be phased in with the large scale roll...
Read MoreChanges to Probate Fees
Probate fees are due to rise in May 2017. Following a consultation in 2016, significant increases in the fees payable for a grant of probate are due in May this year. Currently the system requires a flat fee to be paid, which is, if carried out through a solicitor, £155 and if not, the fee is £215. This will change in May to a banded fee, relative to the value of assets and the estate. A table below shows the potential costs and significant potential increase, which could have implications on families, assets held and businesses involved within the probate. Value of Estate (before...
Read MoreBrexit impacts on farming
Well, we have only gone and done it! Whilst the polls were always close ‘those in the know’ were sure that the bookies had it right and we were going to stay in the EU. Wrong again, and now we have a mad scrabbling for position which just delays the difficult decisions a little further. Agriculture was the biggest recipient of EU funds and has the most to lose in a tussle with the NHS. The CLA and NFU have produced papers outlining priorities for a UK Agricultural Policy (UKAP). The core point is that agriculture has to remain a profitable business if the countryside is to retain its...
Read MoreFew 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...
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