Evaluating potential of farm on farmers retirement

The Problem

An Estate of around 2,000 acres had an ageing tenant, on a full Agricultural Holdings Act tenancy, working around 600 acres.  The tenant was close to retirement and could provide no successor and the Estate’s land agents were negotiating the exit of the tenant but were unsure of what to do with the land, buildings and farmhouse once he had retired.

The Solution

We were retained to undertake an appraisal of the future options for the holding and considered the following:
Re-letting on the farm business tenancy.

Incorporating the farmland within the existing land in-hand.  The complication being that the land in-had had already been converted to organic.

Alternative uses for the buildings including office/light industrial units or being put to equestrian or tourism uses.
Potential use of the farmhouse as a residential let or for tourism, e.g. small country hotel.
Ways to add value to products already produced on the Estate.

The Result

Our appraisal demonstrated that substantially increased income could be derived from the assets through a mixture of incorporating the land within the in-hand farming operations, organic and otherwise, together with alternative uses for the buildings and farmhouse.

The Cost

We charged 10% of the total profits that could be generated from these projects.