Tenant farmers urge Powys Council to halt farm sales

Tenant farmers in Powys have urged the county council to halt the planned sale of owned farms.

Faced with an uncertain future after some have been served notice to quit, tenant farmers and residents from Sarn and Kerry in mid-Wales held a community council meeting on Tuesday 27 May.

They are calling on the county council to put a moratorium in place with immediate effect.

The farms, some of which have been council owned since the early 1900s, are being sold to help generate £10m a year for the local authority.

See also: Powys County Council leaves farm tenants in the lurch

Powys County Council is the largest owner of council holdings in Wales and the fifth-largest in the UK, with 133 holdings across approximately 4,000ha.

Five farms have been sold since 2022, and it has been recommended that more buildings are disposed of while the land is retained by the local authority.

“We go back a long way here in Sarn with about 30 farms in the area,” said David Jones, chairman of the Kerry Community Council.

“A lot of them were purchased before the war and we’ve seen young people excel on county council holdings, leading the way with full commitment.

“With so many people affected, it falls on us to act.”

Farms make a profit

The Powys estate, which is valued at about £120m, generates annual profit of about £750,000.

Senior officials at the meeting told residents that £400,000 of the £1m received in rent was invested back into the upkeep of the farms – a fact tenants in the room said they had not seen any evidence of.

Officials added that the buildings across the council’s portfolio were in need of repair and there was a significant financial restraint on the council, with schools, especially, requiring a lot of funding.

Powys County Council officials Matt Perry (left) and Gwilym Davies © MAG/Anne Dunn

Gwilym Davies, head of planning and regulatory services for Powys County Council, said: “We’ve not changed our policy and we’re not selling all the farms.

“But some difficult decisions need to be made.” 

He added that the local authority was using the council estate, not just farms, to fund its priorities and a farm advisory group was in the process of designing a new policy.

He assured residents he would take the feedback from the meeting back to decision makers.

Matter of urgency

Steve Witherden, the MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, also called on the council to abolish the policy.

He urged it to provide mental health support immediately to those tenants who were now faced with losing their home and business.

“I’ve been disgusted by the lack of care shown to these people. This is a matter of the highest urgency,” he said.

Steve Witherden MP © MAG/Anne Dunn

Wales YFC president Sarah Lewis added: “We’ve seen a huge influx of young people wanting to have a career in agriculture.”

“Council holdings are a stepping stone to that, and these holdings are critical to the community.

“They must abolish the policy. Once again farmers are paying the price for failings of the country.”

Case study: Michael Davies

Michael Davies © MAG/Anne Dunn

First-generation farmer Michael Davies has had his council holding near Caersws, west of Newtown, for 14 years, keeping a flock of 600 breeding ewes.

His tenancy agreement for the 28ha holding was coming up for renewal and he was reassured in November 2024 that it would be renewed.

To his shock, the land agent called him in February informing him that the agreement would not be renewed and he had to move out by 25 March this year.

“When that phone call came my world ended. I’ve built a business. I’ve chased my dream and wasted the best 14 years of my life,” he said.

He was also saddened that farming the holding would not be an option for his six-year-old daughter Fion.

Since taking up the tenancy, Mr Davies has worked hard to improve the holding and has upgraded the house with a new kitchen, bathroom and driveway.

“We paid over £134,000 in rent since taking up the tenancy and we’ve been doing all the things the council should have been doing,” he said.  

“The disregard I’ve had from the council is disgusting. I’ve been given six weeks to disperse a business, find a job and a family home.

“People making decisions haven’t got a clue. They don’t see families and we get treated like a number.”

To try to safeguard the holding he has found an investor to take it on – an offer the council refused.