Our in-house rural research team reviews the latest information and trends and produces briefing papers for clients and for our Rural team, so it is as up-to-date as possible. It is led by Dr Jason Beedell, who is part of our team of 49 researchers which works across Europe on all major property markets. We produce a series of rural market reports, on crop yields, returns from contract farming and the farmland markets in England and Scotland, as well as occasional papers. The team also produces Land Business Update, a free fortnightly e-bulletin on the latest property news and issues.
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Land Business Update | Week Commencing 7 April 2025
Rural economy & property Renters’ Rights Bill – time to prepare (England) The Renters’ Rights Bill aims to ensure a fair balance between strengthening the rights of tenants and preserving landlords’ ability to manage their properties effectively. The proposed legislation has yet to complete its passage through Parliament, but we are not anticipating any significant […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 24 March 2025
Rural economy & property Spring statement – watch the June spending review for changes to Defra’s budget There were, as far as we can see, no new or unexpected changes that affect farming or rural businesses. There were some (anticipated) changes to welfare and defence spending but not many tax changes. The main event for […]
Environmental Business Update | March 2025
Policy & legislation Land use consultation – starting a national conversation The Government has issued a 12-week consultation on a Land Use Framework for England which seeks to establish the principles, data and tools which can be used to improve decision-making about the competing pressures for land. It estimates that the total land use […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 10 March 2025
Farming & food Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme closed with no notice and now being ‘reset’ The government caused a lot of anger and consternation when it closed the scheme on Tuesday 11 March. It said that more farmers had applied than in previous years and so the budget limit had been reached. There are […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 24 February 2025
Rural economy & property Update on grants and rural policy in England The Secretary of State Steve Reed and his team made a number of positive announcements at the NFU Conference. Here are the ones we think are most important: ELM capital grants – all 4,000 applications that were held up will be processed and […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 10 February 2025
Farming & food EU’s draft ‘Vision for Agriculture & Food’ provides roadmap for farm policy It is always interesting to see what other countries are doing and a leaked draft of the EU’s policy, which is still subject to change before it is officially published and then negotiated, has a number of main themes: Direct […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 27 January 2025
Farming & food Farm Rents in England in 2023/24 The average rent for a Farm Business Tenancy (FBT), across all farm types, rose by 3% in the year to 28 February 2024, according to the latest data from Defra. The data comes from the Farm Business Survey sample of 1,373 farms but the sample for […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 13 January 2025
Farming & food Secretary of State Steve Reed’s speech at the Oxford Farming Conference (England) Although some commentators have criticised the speech as not containing detail on what the government will spend on the sector, it feels like there was a lot in it and it was carefully structured. Some subjects he has spoken about […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 9 December 2024
Environment & natural capital Scottish Government publishes Natural Capital Markets Framework The aim of the Framework is to create the conditions needed to encourage flows of private capital into Scotland’s natural environment. It is based on six principles that investments should adhere to, many of which echo the Government’s principles on land reform and use. […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 25 November 2024
Rural economy and property Environment Secretary makes significant announcements Steve Reed spoke at the CLA Rural Business Conference on 21 November. He said that he had heard the anguish of the countryside about the changes in the Budget and wanted to understand how the Government could make the changes easier to bear, while restating the […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 11 November 2024
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 […]
Land Business Update | Autumn Budget
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 […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 14 October 2024
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 […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 30 September 2024
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 […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 16 September 2024
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. […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 2 September 2024
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: […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 19 August 2024
Farming Further updates to the Sustainable Farming Incentive Defra updated the guidance for the SFI in early August. The main changes are: Some changes to the guidance on how to manage land under some of the actions. For example, legume fallow is now a rotational option again, which provides much more flexibility than the static […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 5 August 2024
Farming Positives and negatives in the NAO’s latest assessment of ELM and changes in farm support in England The NAO has published its third report on Defra’s progress on the Farming and Countryside Programme, which is the programme that includes the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes and the productivity and advice grants, such as the […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 22 July 2024
Farming Farming secretary on Labour’s support for the sector Steve Reed gave his first interview to the farming press at the Great Yorkshire Show. Much of what he said followed previous announcements and the Labour manifesto. Key points from his interview with the BBC’s Farming Today include: “I think there should be direct support for […]
Land Business Update | Week Commencing 8 July 2024
Change of government Plans for farming and the countryside We have summarised what we know about Labour’s policy on farming, food and the environment in the bulletin published on 5 July. The main points for England are: No big changes expected to farm or agri-environment policy. Commitment to current spending levels this year and will […]
