1000-acre Lincolnshire arable farm for sale

Just weeks after a Lincolnshire farm was almost besieged by buyers and changed hands at over £7000/acre, the launch of a slightly larger, fully-equipped commercial holding in the south of the county could be one of the most significant in recent years.

Interest in the 990-acre Waite Farm, at Thornton Le Fen, north west of Boston, will undoubtedly be high. The Lake family have farmed there for 75 years ago, and are now selling up after acquiring it, with fortuitous timing, a couple of years ago from their landlord, the Church Commissioners.

In what will be a good test for what has almost been a runaway market for arable land, the guide price is £7.5m, which equates to over £7500/acre.

This includes a farmhouse with five bedrooms, pair of cottages, and large, modern buildings that offer grain storage for about 2900t.

The land is Grade 2, of which about a third is capable of growing roots and vegetables, with irrigation that is provided by a water abstraction licence for 29,276cu m from local watercourses. Amenity woodland, ponds and an established shoot will add to its attractions.

The farm is in two blocks, and will be offered in three lots. “But we expect to sell it as a whole,” said James O’Brien of selling agent Brown & Co. “While little land has come to the market in the fens this year, this type of sizeable commercial farm is in high demand.”

A few miles further north, Brown & Co is also selling 264 acres of Grade 2 and 3 land in three lots at East Keal, Spilsby, where it expects to conclude a sale in the next couple of weeks based on a total guide price of £1.35m (just over £5100/acre).

Again, its size has attracted attention from wide range of buyers. “I think that smaller blocks of less than 150 acres, increasingly dependent on neighbours wanting to buy extra land, could prove to be a more difficult market. There is a premium for size,” said Mr O’Brien.

Other Lincholshire arable farm for sale