The East of England witnessed a rise in the amount of farmland listed for sale in 2024 as average prices cooled slightly, according to figures from Savills. 

The quarterly Savills farmland survey shows 20,703 acres of farmland had come to market by the end of December last year – compared to 19,173 in 2023 (a rise of 7.9 per cent).

Nationally, the farmland market experienced its highest activity levels since 2018, with more than 187,500 acres listed for sale, marking a 19 per cent increase from 2023 and a 14 per cent rise above the 2012-2016 average. The North had the most farmland listed for sale with 30,553 acres.

The East of England also saw a slight softening of average farmland prices – although values remained above the national average for most land types.

Prime arable land was trading at an average of £9,914 an acre in the East of England at the end of 2024 according to the Savills survey, a drop of 2.7 per cent compared to 2023, but still higher than six of the last eight years. Nationally, the average value of prime arable land rose by 0.7 per cent to £10,244 an acre.

Grade 3 arable land was trading at an average of £9,289 an acre – a drop of 0.4 per cent on 2023 but ahead of the national average of £8,855. The average price for all types of farmland meanwhile sat at £9,290 an acre in the East of England – a fall of 1.12 per cent on 2023 but greater than the national average of £8,299 an acre.

Oliver Carr, who leads the rural team at Savills in Cambridge and is part of the agency team covering West Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, said: “A good proportion of the land sold in the East is productive farmland where both buyer and seller are driven by commercial objectives.

“Given the recent uncertainty in the agricultural economy some would-be sellers are waiting for greater clarity before opting to sell.

“This is perhaps in contrast to other parts of the country where the reasons for sale might be more amenity or lifestyle focused and timing therefore tends to be driven by a desire to move rather than commercial opportunity.

“Values in the East have also historically been amongst the strongest in the country and – whilst overall there may be a slight softening – this is a reflection of variation across the region alongside price rises in other parts of the UK.

“For the best properties and where there is limited supply, stronger than average prices continue to be achieved.”

Oliver said the amount of farmland coming to the market this year was expected to remain relatively stable with prices also holding firm.

He went on: “Encouragingly we agreed deals following the proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief announced in October’s Budget and hopefully that’s a good sign of continued demand.

“The assumption is the benefit of investing in land has been diminished, however demands on farmland have never been greater.

“Labour has said it is committed to delivering environmental targets, fast tracking the journey to clean power, investing in infrastructure, building more homes and securing food production.

“For these reasons we should continue to see a variety of purchaser types in the market, each with their own reasons for investing beyond just the tax benefit.

“However, we are not expecting a huge rise in the amount of farmland coming to the market this year. Our research team are forecasting that this is only likely from 2027 when it may be used to cover inheritance tax liabilities for those farming businesses unable to fund or where sufficient tax planning was not possible.

“Farmland values are also expected to hold. Growth is most likely from 2027 by when clearer land use priorities will have emerged, and development activity will be increasing, leading to more buyers and competition in the market.”

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