Norfolk farm sale ‘biggest’ of 2024

Three Norfolk farms with a combined value of almost £10.7m have come to market in what agents believe could be the county’s biggest farm sale this year.

The productive and versatile arable farms, spanning 965 acres of land between the villages of Mileham and Gressenhall near Dereham, are currently farmed as a single unit. The properties are being marketed separately – but are also available as a whole.

Reed Lane Farm, on the edge of Mileham, has a guide price £4.5m. It includes a 700-tonne grain store and four-bedroom farmhouse at the heart of some 404 acres of land, says agent Savills.

Rawhall Farm, between Mileham and Gressenhall, has a guide price £4.6m. It includes grain stores and commercial farm buildings with a four-bedroom farmhouse on about 438 acres of land.

Stewardship schemes

Other associated lots include three-bedroom Rawhall Farm Cottage, valued at £485,000; and 123 acres of land at nearby Vale Farm, near Gressenhall, which is for sale with a guide price £1.1m.

All three farms are within a Countryside Stewardship scheme and have recently entered a Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement. On top of arable cropping, rental and environmental income totals £190,059.

Savills rural agency director Christopher Miles said the sale was a great opportunity to acquire three productive arable farms in close proximity which were efficiently farmed as one unit– but would work equally well as separate holdings.

“It’s a significant sale – the largest to come to market in Norfolk so far this year – and potentially one of the biggest of 2024. There may also be an opportunity to add a further 91 acres of land bordering Reed Lane Farm through separate negotiation.”

‘Attractive proposition’

The farms would likely be an attractive proposition for investors and for farmers who want to expand or relocate, said Mr Miles. Acquired over some 10 years, the farms were some distance from their primary holding.

“Following a recent acquisition of a neighbouring farm to the main estate and the knowledge of other investment opportunities [our client has] decided now is the right time to consolidate their operations nearer to home.”

The capacity to store crops and machinery at Reed Lane and Rawhall is also an advantage. The cottage at Rawhall is available as a separate lot, while Vale Farm consists of bare land close to Rawhall Farm.

Arable land is cropped in a rotation of wheat, barley and oilseed rape, with all three farms in mid-tier countryside stewardship. Hedgerows and trees have been established to enhance the landscape.