Scotland set for busier autumn

IN SCOTLAND, CHARLES Dudgeon of Savills’ Edinburgh office is gearing himself for a busier autumn selling season than last year.

About 3500 acres are set to come to the market over the next few weeks, starting with the launch of Mounteagle, a 616-acre mixed farm on the shore of Loch Eye in Easter Ross.

“We usually like to wait until the third or fourth week of August when harvest is over,” said Mr Dudgeon.

“We seem to be getting back to a more normal season,” he added.

So far 17,000 acres of farmland have been launched in Scotland, compared with only 26,000 acres for the whole of last year.

But Mr Dudgeon said the market was still a long way from returning to the 10-year average of 60,000-70,000 acres.

Mount Eagle, which is guided at £1.45m, includes a six-bed main house and five cottages, two of which are rented as holiday lets.

 Views of Loch Eye from Mounteagle

Almost 310 acres are down to arable production and there is also trout fishing on the privately owned loch. “It is good value for money,” said Mr Dudgeon.

Savills is also selling Primrosehill, a 640-acre mainly arable unit in Berwickshire, which is guided at £1.4m with a five-bed house and two cottages.

However, Mr Dudgeon’s largest offering, a 1200-acre arable business with views over the east coast, is not set to be launched until later this week.

See FARMERS WEEKLY on Aug 26 for full details.