‘Amazing’ Hampshire trade and more to come

The Hampshire farms market has been red hot this year and there is even more to come.

Savills‘ Jessica Simpson, who has been involved in a number of the county’s biggest deals, said she was amazed at how much land had been sold this year. “I can’t remember when so much land was traded in one county.”

But despite the unusual glut of availability, Mrs Simpson said there was still plenty of demand and the market could handle even more without values coming under pressure. “What is reassuring is that everything has sold pretty well.”

The largest sale of the year was the 3828-acre Hursley Estate, four miles from Winchester, which came with a £25m price tag.

Most of the estate, on the market jointly with BCM and Savills, has now been sold to two local farmer/investors, said Mrs Simpson.

Iain Curry of BCM, who has handled about 12,000 Hampshire acres this year, much of it off-market, said: “It’s interesting how strong farmer buyers have been. I think there is a certain amount of confidence now and there are substantial farming people in Hampshire who are prepared to buy more land.”

Mrs Simpson said Savills had been involved in a private back-to-back deal which saw one Hampshire landowner sell their 1300-acre farm and then buy another 1000-acre property in the county.

But it is not just local farmers who are interested. Mrs Simpson said a Danish buyer had shown serious interest in part of Hursley. “They are running out of farms in the east of England to buy.”

Nicholas Hextall, who has just put Tufton Warren – a 796-acre block of commercial soil with a 2000t grain store near Whitchurch – under offer for near its £2.6m guide, said: “There is still strong demand for commercial land in the southern counties.”

Simon Jacobs of Cluttons, who launched 1265-acre New Barn Farm at the end of July with a £4.45m guide, said he was slightly concerned that the amount of other land launched before the sale might affect demand. But the farm was now under offer for over the guide, he said. “Demand is still outstripping supply.”

That bodes well for Mrs Simpson, who has just received instructions on a “very large” commercial farming estate due to be launched next month. Watch this space.