Units will appeal to arable and residential buyers

Strutt & Parker’s London office is lining up another 1850 acres of land to be launched this month and has already pencilled in a major sale for the autumn.


The firm’s run of summer sales continues with Manor Farm at Mollington, near Banbury, Oxfordshire, and Ladbroke Hill Farm at Ladbroke just over the Warwickshire border.


Both are farmed by Roger Peel, who is retiring from farming.


Agent Natalie Price said the two arable units would appeal to different sorts of purchasers.


“Manor Farm is likely to attract those looking to invest in farmland without looking to spend a lot of money on residential property.”


The property, which straddles the M40, includes 483 acres of land, 2500t of grain storage and a pair of semi-detached cottages.


It has been lotted four ways with a total guide of ÂŁ2m.


Ladbroke Hill Farm, however, would probably be bought by an amenity buyer, said Miss Price.


“It is a wonderful residential farm.”


The asking price is 1.65m and this buys a five-bed house surrounded by 242 acres of Grade 3 soil, all of which are currently down to winter wheat.


For those looking for bare land only, Strutt & Parker is also selling a 220-acre block of arable land at Fawler, near Wantage, Oxfordshire.


The Fawler Farmland was bought by a big local estate in the 1970s, when landowners were looking for economies of scale, said the firm’s James Laing.


“They have now decided to have the land contracted, so there is no advantage to having outlying blocks of land.


They sold some more last year.”


The firm’s biggest sale of the month is still being kept tightly under wraps (for more details see next week’s Land and Farms) but will involve over 900 acres in Berkshire, said Mr Laing.


An even more closely guarded secret is the identity of a 3000-acre unit set to be launched in September.


“It will be a very big real farm,” he promised.


andrew.shirley@rbi.co.uk