East barometer sale
East barometer sale
A CAMBS arable unit soon to hit the market will be an "interesting barometer" of the farmland market, according to Rob Bartlett of selling agent Cluttons.
Wadlow Farm, part of the 6000-acre Six Mile Bottom Estate, near Newmarket, formerly owned by Lady Delamere and now split between her son and a family trust, is being sold following its reversion to vacant possession with the current tenant prepared to surrender his agricultural holdings act tenancy and concentrate on other land he farms in the area.
Mr Bartlett is valuing the 860-acre farm, owned by the trust, at over £2.7m, with Grade 3 soil priced at £2300/acre and Grade 2 at £2450/acre. Although grain prices are currently languishing at disappointing levels, the agent is confident the property will find a buyer. "Land prices are now so divorced from cereal prices I am not worried."
But Wadlow has attractions other than arable farming. There is a well-stocked partridge shoot and four dwellings, one of which is a five-bedroomed, timber-clad house completely isolated from the commercial operations of the farm. Mr Bartlett also feels there could be the potential to construct a significant new residence under PPG 7 legislation.
He has split the sale six ways. The principal lot features a three-bedroomed house, 1600t of grain storage and 455 acres, while bare land is available in 360 and 40-acre blocks. *