Farmland in Scotland Demanded by Investors

As farmland prices in England become unbeatable, investors turn to Scotland, where prime quality farmland is being offered for 5-8K pounds per acre.

The latest research published by Smiths Gore suggests that arable land of the highest quality in Scotland is now priced at 5,000-8,000 pounds per acre.

According to John Coleman, the prices rise because demand outstrips supply. He also predicts that by the end of the year prices will be 5% up on last year' readings: "Some of the larger sales details are still to come in, but it looks like prices will be around 5% up on this time last year, despite the lower end remaining much the same at £3000/acre."

He highlighted that many buyers from England and other countries, were prices have exceeded 10,000 pounds per acre, are looking at Scottish farms.

In the opinion of Smiths Gore, those are only large farms that can "anticipate record breaking prices"; sellers of small farms in their turn should be "realistic in their expectations."