According to land agents Smiths Gore, the value of English farmland rose by four per cent in 2014 to an average of £10,200 per acre, the first time that prices have broken the £10,000/acre barrier.
The value of equipped land (that with houses and buildings) rose more slowly than the previous year as buyers became more discerning about the type and quality of land in which to invest. The price of bare farmland, without houses or buildings, rose by 7 per cent in 2014 driven by demand from farmers rather than other investors.
“2014 continued farmland’s strong rise in values that started before the recession and has continued since 2009, which has made land one of the best performing assets of the last five years. Both bare and equipped values have now increased for five consecutive years, with equipped land values rising by 54 per cent since 2010, from £7,200 per acre, and bare land values rising by 58 per cent, from £4,800 per acre”, says Dr Jason Beedell, Head of Research at Smiths Gore.