The price of farmland in Wales has seen the largest price increase in the UK over the last year, and is now the most expensive in the UK, a survey by the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) has shown.
The average price per acre of farmland in Wales is now £8,625; an astonishing rise of 19% in the last year. The cost of farmland in the UK averages £8,607 an acre and in Scotland the price drops to just £4,500 per acre.
The increase means that farmland now costs four times what it did 20 years ago when land averaged just £2,028 per acre. Price growth in the last 10 years has been driven principally by farmers but investors are now seeing land as an economic safe haven and the price is also inflated by an increased uptake by “lifestyle buyers”; people moving to the country and buying smallholdings for the better quality of life here and the rural idyll.
Surveyors are reporting that demand is outstripping supply and, with farmers expanding and more demand from lifestyle buyers which coincides with the growth in the housing market, this is likely to support further increases over the next few years. With the current rental values, investors too are increasingly seeing land as an economic safe haven.
If you are looking to move to the country, buy a smallholding, farm or just your dream home, West Wales Property Finders would be delighted to help with all your property requirements. Please contact Carol Peett on 01834 862816 carol@westwalespropertyfinders.co.uk; www. westwalespropertyfinders.co.uk
