Surge of land and farm launches as spring market picks up

A host of land and farms are on offer across the UK as the spring market picks up.

We take a look at some of the newcomers to the market.

See also: Business Clinic: How do we formalise farm staff housing rights?

Derbyshire mixed farm

Butterley Park Farm © Savills

With 1,168 acres of productive arable land, pasture and woodland, and a well-equipped livestock yard, Butterley Park Farm near Ripley, Derbyshire, offers both scale and a good setup.

The farm produces beef from a 600-head system, with buildings including a roundhouse, traditional cattle housing and modern open-sided buildings.

There is also a storage facility for 1,500t of grain from the wheat and barley crops.

Henry King, of selling agent Savills, says it is rare that such a substantial block of land is launched in Derbyshire.

The farm offers versatile land with a “wide range of agricultural, operational, and environmental attributes”.

The sale includes a four-bedroom farmhouse and is guided at £9.5m. It is also available in five lots.

Wiltshire farm with a shoot

Haydon Farm © Woolley Wallis

Another farm with scale is also for sale as a whole or in five lots – 760-acre Haydon Farm in Wiltshire’s Wylye Valley. The land is a mixture of permanent pasture, downland and arable fields.

The 2026 rotation features spring barley, winter barley, winter wheat, oilseed rape and maize. Blocks of woodland support an established commercial partridge shoot.

Modern farm buildings house cattle, fodder and machinery, and two grain stores with underfloor drying have capacity for 1,400t. Additionally, there are stables, a sand school and horse paddocks.

The five-bedroom farmhouse has established gardens and a tennis court. There are two semi-detached two-bedroom cottages – one is let on an assured shorthold tenancy agreement.

Woolley & Wallis is guiding Haydon Farm at £11.75m.

Smaller holdings

Great Rill © Stags

Two farms smaller in size are being launched in Devon by Stags.

Retirement sees 116-acre Great Rill at Bampton, near Tiverton, coming to the market at £2.675m. The mainly level land is sown to grass and there is woodland, a lake and modern farm buildings.

There is a four-bedroom farmhouse, a second four-bedroom property, a one-bedroom annexe, and a two-bedroom cottage let as holiday accommodation.

Honeyway Farm © Stags

At 82 acres, Honeyway Farm, a mixed farm in the Teign Valley village of Dunsford, is the smaller of the two Stags launches.

The grassland is suited to grazing and mowing, and woodland of coniferous and broad-leaved species is commercially managed for firewood and timber.

A 10-year Forestry Commission woodland management plan runs until August 2031.

A modern barn is used for agricultural and forestry storage. There is also a four-bedroom bungalow, which is subject to an agricultural occupancy condition.

The farm is being marketed at a guide price of £1.3m.

Cider opportunity

Fair Oaks © Sunderlands

In Herefordshire, Fair Oak, near Bacton, is home to the UK’s only horse-powered cider mill and press still in use.

It markets cider under the Fair Oak Cider brand, which the buyer could maintain.

Sunderlands is seeking offers in the region of £2m for Fair Oak, which has 74 acres of productive grassland, about 1½ acres of traditional orchard, and 10 acres of woodland and stream. 

The farm is entered into an Entry Level plus Higher Level Stewardship scheme until 31 March 2028, an agreement which will be transferred to the buyer.

The five-bedroom farmhouse has its origins in the 17th century and there is further residential accommodation in the form of an annexe and a holiday cottage.

The farm buildings are mostly Grade II listed, and there is a purpose-built equestrian training arena.

Essex arable farm

Crippings Farm © Ceres Rural Agency

In Essex, Crippings Farm in Leadon Roding has 120 acres of Grade 2 arable land and a range of traditional farm buildings.

The four-bedroom farmhouse is Grade II listed and there is an unoccupied three-bedroom house which presents a redevelopment opportunity.

Ceres Rural is seeking offers in the region of £2m, which is also offered four lots.