Farmland Prices Reach £5,000 per Acre

Recent research by Knight Frank suggests that the price of agricultural land across the United Kingdom is starting to increase and now constitutes more than £5,000 per acre. The farmers’ confidence is also increasing and investors are starting to return to the land market despite the tough supply. Andrew Shirley, who takes the post of Knight Frank head of rural property research, said that farmers’ confidence in the agricultural land market is enhancing as the price of land has started to increase for the first time in 9 months of falling values. He added that the company’s valeurs across the country are reporting renewed confidence among farmers as land deals are being repeatedly agreed at prices, which exceed £5000 per acre and in some cases even £6000 per acre. He added that despite the fact that crop prices are still lower than they were last year (which fact, by the way, contributed to the record high increases in land prices), cereal markets are slowly improving. Farmers’ confidence is also being supported by the Government’s focus on global food security. They, however, do recognize that the support of the EU for farming will be limited, which means that only productive and profitable will be sought after. Knight Frank head of farms and estates, Clive Hopkins, claimed that farmers actually never changed their attitude towards land purchases; however the economic crunch made investors very cautious in terms of property investments, which resulted in a short period of farm land market stagnation, characterized by a small number of sales agreed. At the moment, however, UK and foreign investors, who recognize that farmland is a secure long-term investment, are coming back to the UK agricultural land market as credit flows are starting to free up. Mr. Hopkins added that he does not expect to see land prices to skyrocket to the level of £7000 per acre, but rather see them steadily growing over the next few years.