Property editor’s notebook

Braemar Group makes second farm purchase

Investment fund Braemar Group has made a second farm purchase, this time through its Channel islands-based fund.

The offshore fund has acquired a 280-acre Grade 2 arable unit in Suffolk for £1.37m and is understood to have made an offer on another unit. The farm, which has not been identified, is to be let on a farm business tenancy.

The move follows the initial purchase of Braemar’s UK-based investment fund last year. Chief executive Marc Duschenes said the fund had been buoyed by the recent improvement in cereals prices. “We expect to be making about eight farm purchases in the next year.”

New edition of ag values guide

Land agent and valuer Gwyn Williams has published a new edition of his long-standing reference book Agricultural Valuations: A Practical Guide. The new edition reflects the changes to valuation practice since the introduction of the Single Payment Scheme and the rise of the agri-environmental schemes.

Although primarily aimed at professional agricultural valuers and land agents, the book presents a useful guide to valuation practice for anyone involved in owning or leasing farmland. The new edition is available from EG Books.