A Henry Stewart Briefing

Investing in Agricultural Land

Chairman

Henry Aubrey Fletcher
President
Country Land &
Business Association

Speakers

Mark Ashbridge
Associate Director
Savills Private Finance

Ian Bailey
Head of Rural Research Associate Director
Savills

Gerald FitzGerald
Partner
Smiths Gore

Tim Jones
Partner
Carter Jonas LLP

Mark McAndrew
Head of Estate and Farm Agency
Strutt & Parker

James Miles Hobbs
Partner
Rural Development Associates

Andrew Pearce
Director
Head of Humberts Country Department
Humberts

Henry Sale
Joint Managing Partner
Fisher German LLP

Andrew Shirley
Head of Rural
Knight Frank

Andrew Slack
Partner
Grant Thornton LLP

Programme

UNDERSTANDING WHAT LAND VALUES ARE NOW
Informed opinion supported by real world evidence.
Covering: Types of ownership: owner – managed; secure and unsecured tenancies; types of farm and land: agricultural, livestock, mixed, hill, lowland, floodplain, wetlands, woodland, leisure, mainland, island, hobby; geographic differences – both regional and due to access; differences due to scale – from small add-on plots to 5,000 acre plus estates
Andrew Shirley
Head of Rural
Knight Frank

HOW THE VALUATIONS ARE BEING MADE – WHAT AFFECTS THE VALUE AND BY HOW MUCH?
The use and misuse of comparables; valuing on a yield basis, valuing development hope value; land including buildings versus land plus buildings. Counting or discounting the special purchaser – what if the world is comprised of special purchasers? How commodity prices and agricultural profit projections affect the capital value.

How valuers value arable land, woodland, sporting rights, amenity land and pasture
• Basis of valuation and assumptions
• Valuation method – vacant and investment holdings
• Development and hope value
• Synergistic and special value
• Diversification
• Rental valuations
• Comparables
Gerald FitzGerald
Partner
Smiths Gore

HOW LET FARMS ARE VALUED, RENTS ASSESSED AND RENTS REVIEWED
Rental values under the 1986 Agricultural Holdings Act and the Agricultural Tenancies Act – what makes them different.

Valuation approaches to the different types of agricultural tenancies and the reasons for them.
Tim Jones
Partner
Carter Jonas LLP

WHO IS BUYING – UNDERSTANDING THE PURCHASER SECTORS AND THE EFFECTS ON PRICE. FITTING AGRICULTURAL LAND INTO AN INVESTMENT STRATEGY
Professional Farmers; house-in-the-country residents; private investors and institutions – why do they buy? What do they buy? What do they pay? UK buyers and overseas buyers.
Tax Planners
Andrew Pearce
Director, Head of Humberts Country Department
Humberts

FINANCING THE PURCHASE: WHO, WHAT PERCENTAGE OF VALUE? WHAT INCOME COVER? HOW SECURED? ON WHAT TERMS?
Who is in the market, what will they fund and on what terms?
Mark Ashbridge
Associate Director of Savills Private Finance answers all the questions.

UNDERSTANDING THE TAX PLANNING BUYER/OWNER
The tax advantages – what are they? Who buys to get them? How long must they own to get and keep them – what do they do once the tax advantages are safe?
Andrew Slack
Partner
Grant Thornton LLP

UNDERSTANDING THE MULTIPLE SOURCES OF INCOME – WHAT THEY CAN BE, WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES FOR VALUES
Subsidies, grants, rents, crops, livestock and leisure – assessing different areas of diversification and the value of their associated income streams. Analysis supported by illustrative real world case studies.
James Miles Hobbs
Partner
Rural Development Associates

THE ART OF BUYING TO REAP DEVELOPMENT VALUE – THE REALLY BIG PAY OFF PLAY
What to look for? What to ask? How to assess the probabilities and the time scales. All illustrated with real world examples.
Henry Sale
Joint Managing Partner
Fisher German LLP

SO WHAT’S THE PERFORMANCE RECORD – HOW HAS AGRICULTURAL LAND PERFORMED OVER THE SHORT, MEDIUM AND LONG TERM? HOW DOES IT COMPARE WITH THE TRADITIONAL SECTORS OF RETAIL, OFFICES AND INDUSTRIAL?
• Investment performance (income returns and capital growth) of farmland versus other property assets
• Investment performance (income returns and capital growth) of farmland versus other alternative assets
• Historic trends
• Gross and net income returns
• Drivers of performance
• Profile of investment buyers and changes to the historic trend
• UK versus other areas in the world
Ian Bailey
Head of Rural Research, Associate Director
Savills

CAN PRICES STAY HIGH? IS FARMLAND LIKE DIAMOND JEWELLERY – GOOD TO LOOK AT, VALUED HIGHLY AND SUPPORTED BY DEMAND NOT INCOME?
This session will cover in detail the implications of population growth, global affluence, climate change and water management. It will compare UK land values with those in other European Countries. It will focus on the consequences of the unrivalled demand for farmland from a range of purchasers, including fellow Europeans, UK farmers, institutions and lifestyle buyers.

More specifically what is really driving prices higher? Analysing the effects of:
• Commodity prices
• The world scene
• Food versus fuel
• Supply versus demand
• Tax advantages
• Lifestyle aspirations
Mark McAndrew
Head of Estate and Farm Agency
Strutt & Parker