Price of farmland at record high
FARMLAND prices in Yorkshire and the Humber have hit another record high during the first half of 2013, according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Rural Land Market Survey.
During the first six months of the year, the cost of farmland in Yorkshire and the Humber jumped to £7,000 per acre. The cost of land is now almost three times that of the same period in 2004 when an acre in the region cost just over £2,613.
RICS said the growth in prices has been driven by the on-going surge in demand from farmers and investors alike. Interest from potential buyers started to steadily grow at the beginning of 2006 and surveyors in Yorkshire and the Humber note that hikes in commodity prices are leading the charge to expand agricultural operations with investors increasingly seeing land as an economic safe haven.
With bare farmland so sought after, the six months to June saw availability of such farmland remain flat.
Across Great Britain, land prices were highest in the North West at £8,813 per acre while, the cost per acre was lowest in Scotland at £4,438 per acre. That said, prices north of the border did still reach record levels for the nation’s market.
Respondents in Yorkshire and the Humber expect the trend of rapidly growing farmland prices to continue over the coming year with a net balance of 67% more surveyors predicting further growth.
Tom Whitehead of Carter Jonas in Harrogate said: “The regional market has surged into activity since mid-May with a good mix of bare land and equipped farms of varying calibre now available. Reasonable quality bare arable land in blocks of 50 – 150 acres is highly sought after commanding a 20% – 50% premium over ‘average’ prices, with weaker demand for farms with a strong residential element or in less fashionable districts.”
Sue Steer, RICS spokesperson, added: “The growth of farmland prices across Yorkshire and the Humber in recent times has been nothing short of staggering. In less than ten years we’ve seen the cost of a square acre of farmland grow to such an extent that investors – not just farmers – are entering the market. And, if commodity prices continue to increase and keep demand high, there’s no reason at all why we won’t see the cost per acre going through the ten thousand pound barrier in the next two to three years.”
