Uplands and sport in NE package

NORTH-EAST ENGLAND has been hit hard by the downturn in farm sales, but agent George F White is putting some life back into the market with the launch of a large estate.

According to latest figures no land was publicly marketed in the region, which includes Northumberland and Co Durham, during the first quarter of the year.

But the 1042-acre Scrainwood Estate in the Coquet Valley at Alnham, near Alnwick, will give buyers a rare opportunity to get their hands on a mixed upland farming estate with sporting possibilities, said the Alnwick-based firm‘s Tom Oates.

He said very little land was sold in the county because the Duke of Northumberland owned so much of it. This had been exacerbated by uncertainty over the mid-term review.

Scrainwood, which comes with a seven-bed house and two cottages, is on the market for £3m.

In North Yorks, very little land has also been available recently.

Agent Robin Jessop said the sale of High House farm at West Harsley, near Northallerton, would be a “true test of the farmland market in this part of the Vale of York”.

He is guiding the 238-acre farm, which includes an attractive five-bed stone farmhouse, at £1.3m as a whole but has also split it into three lots.