Our nationally renowned Agriculture Team has in-depth experience of buying and selling estates, farms and land, as well as the Agricultural Holdings Act and farm business tenancies.

We can offer you the technical legal skills required to complete your transaction smoothly.

Farm Acquisitions

Purchasing a farm is not straightforward. In many cases, where farms have been in the control of one family for many years, there are often significant disparities between boundaries as described in the farm deeds and the boundary position on the ground.

It is therefore imperative for your solicitor to carry out a farm visit once he has received the contract papers.

We often save clients a significant amount of money by carrying out such a visit and identifying boundary and other problems that were not apparent from the legal pack supplied by the seller's solicitors.

Other key points you should consider when purchasing a farm are:

• What implications are there under the Mid-Term Review of the Common Agricultural Policy?
• How will the sale of any Milk Quota be structured in the contract?
• What is the public rights of way position? We do not advise you to rely on a local authority search for this information. We have our own set of questions, which we raise with the Public Rights of Way Officer for the County Council in question.
• A thorough investigation of the Town & Country Planning and building control history of the farm buildings needs to be undertaken.
• Sporting rights.
• Checking that all service and access easements are available.
• Employment issues.
• Tenancy and other occupation issues.
• Structuring the sale in the context of general tax planning.

These are just some of the issues that you need to consider when purchasing a farm. We have many years' experience in guiding clients through farm purchases, so this enables us to ensure the process is as smooth as possible for you.

Farm Sales

If you decide to sell your farm, whether as a whole or in part, then you need specialist advice. If you are planning to sell the whole of your farm, you should contact your solicitor before starting the marketing so that together you can consider the following issues:

• Is the legal title to the farm properly in place?
• Do the boundaries on the ground equate to the boundaries as described in the title deeds?
• Do any access or service rights need to be formalised by deed?
• Have all required consents been obtained under building regulations for works carried out to the farm?
• Are all planning permissions available?
• Is all IACS data available for the purchaser's solicitors?
• What proposals are there for ongoing valuation?
• Have steps been taken to terminate or otherwise deal with any tenants or licensees occupying land or buildings on the farm?
• Is all information regarding any Woodland Grant, Countryside Stewardship Scheme or other such scheme available?

If you decide to sell part of your farm, you need to consider the following points:

• Do you wish to retain any rights in respect of any future development, which may take place on that part of the farm being sold?
• Do you wish to consider imposing covenants to restrict use of the land being sold for the benefit of the farm being retained?
• Do you need to reserve any access or service rights across the land being sold for the benefit of the land being retained?

These are just some of the points that need to be considered and need your attention before you embark on a sale; our team of specialist lawyers will be happy to talk through the implications of sale and to guide you through the process in a quick and efficient manner.