Queen launches low rent farm tenancies

THE QUEEN is introducing an innovative tenancy that could benefit new entrants following the introduction of the single farm payment.

It will be available for ten year terms on part of the 2500ha (6180-acre) Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.

But unlike normal FBTs the land itself might not cost anything, said Charles Whitaker of property consultant Brown & Co, which is handling the deal on behalf of the estate.

Mr Whitaker said the scrapping of direct support payments meant it was becoming more and more difficult to use grassland through short-term arrangements with graziers.

“Now that SFP is here, it does present the opportunity for imaginative thinking to provide land at relatively low cost.”

Under the new contract, tenants on the 67ha (165-acre), mainly organic grass unit, will pay around £750 a month for the four-bedroom house but nothing for the land.

In returnthey would have to satisfy cross-compliance and keeping it in good agricultural and environmental condition.

The tenant would also agree to lease the land’s SFP entitlement at face value. “We are into low-rent or rent-free territory for land and buildings here,” said Mr Whitaker.

There could also be scope to take a further 101ha (250 acres) of grazing for a minimal rent as well as using forage break crops within the estate’s existing organic and conventional arable rotations.

For the full story, see Farmers Weekly magazine, July 15.