Strong demand for South West land

The South West UK land market remains strong but with a growing variance in values, depending on type and location, says Stags.

Bare land and land with buildings were in particularly strong demand from farmers looking to expand and from investors, said the firm’s George Alder.

Blocks from 100 to 200 acres were likely to meet the keenest demand.

Sales of all bare land types and locations across the firm’s 19 offices in 2013 produced averages by county of £7,404/acre in Devon, £8,077/acre in Cornwall and £8,636/acre in Somerset. Dorset saw an £8,673/acre bare land average.

Stags sold 27 farms across the West Country in 2013 and more than 3,500 acres across the region during the year, generating ÂŁ33m. As well as farmer buyers, lifestyle buyers had returned, looking for farms offering privacy and protection, said Mr Alder.

“This is in line with the national picture, which show surveyors’ price expectations for residential farms have turned positive for the first time since the second half of 2010.

“This also looks to be consistent with the increased interest in the wider residential market”.

Stags expects to offer seven new farms in the first few months of this year, several of these coming to the market through retirement. Commercial farms are again expected to attract the strongest interest.

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