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The 2024 London Land and Property Briefing saw experts from across the Rural team share their insights on the potential challenges and opportunities facing land managers. The theme of the event was building resilience, with speakers using an example of a fictional, model estate – called Woodhare – to explore different strategies for rural estates […]

Land Business Magazine out now Our new Land Business magazine is now available.  Its theme is building resilience and it includes articles on: Autumn Budget – Our initial thoughts on the changes announced in the Budget. Climate adaptation – How farming businesses are responding to the challenge of climate change. Planning potential – What do […]

Farming businesses across the UK face the prospect of warmer and wetter winters, hotter and drier summers and more frequent and intense weather extremes. Recent Met Office figures show that average UK temperatures between 2014 and 2023 were 1.25°C higher than between 1961 and 1990 and six of the warmest years on record occurred in […]

What the Autumn Budget means for farmers and landowners Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered her Autumn Budget after weeks of speculation about the contents. The following is a brief summary of some of the key announcements with implications for farmers and landowners and our understanding of them so far. Overview This is a Budget which […]

The government has confirmed that landlords in England will need to ensure any let residential property has a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C by 2030. This is a reversal of the Conservative government’s announcement in September 2023 which scrapped plans to increase the minimum EPC from an E to C between 2025 […]

Rumours continue to swirl about whether there will be changes to the tax regime which could impact rural landowners in the Autumn Budget (30 October), although at the time of writing nothing is certain. Rhodri Thomas, Head of Rural at Strutt & Parker, made a joint presentation with Philip Whitcomb, a partner at Clarke Willmott […]

Global progress – or lack of it – in halting and reversing biodiversity loss is in the spotlight, with the 16th UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16) scheduled to start on 21 October 2024 in Columbia. In the run-up to the conference, a wave of reports and policy recommendations has emerged, which offer fresh insights on the […]

Environment and forestry State of Natural Capital Report – current value of the UK’s natural wealth is just over £1.5 trillion The UK’s natural capital is important as so much of our economy, society and wildlife depends on our natural assets being in good condition. An example is the dependence of farming on nature. Farming […]

Most farms and estates will have asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) on them somewhere. Asbestos was widely used in building materials until it was banned in late 1999. On farms and estates ACMs can typically still be found in any of the following areas: agricultural building roofs, cladding, pipes, flues etc lagging (on pipes and boilers) water […]

Farming The changing face of land use on farms in England Defra has just released some data on the amount of land used on commercial farms in England.  It is based on returns from the June Census: The area of land used nationally for farming on the units fell by 1% in 2024 compared with […]

Farming Compulsory register to protect bird health – registration deadline 1 October Anyone who keeps birds in England and Wales – including those with just one bird and including backyard flocks, birds of prey and pigeon fanciers – must sign up to the new compulsory Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) register before 1 October. […]

Farming Do agri-environment schemes actually deliver environmental benefits? (England) The effectiveness of agri-environment schemes (AES) is monitored by Natural England on behalf of Defra. To do this, Natural England gathers evidence and carries out research on the AES each year. The key points from this year’s evidence annual report, which summarised seven research projects, are: […]