Savills Farmland Value Survey shows the average value of grade 3 arable land across Great Britain rose by 2.3% in the first quarter of 2011 to £5,400 per acre. This follows an increase of 11% throughout 2010 and 7.2% in 2009.
In England during the first quarter of 2011, the average value of grade 3 arable land increased by 2.7% to £5,700 per acre. This represents a stronger start to the year compared with the past two years, when a 1% increase was recorded during the first quarter of 2010 and a fall of -0.85% for the same period of 2009.
Arable land values continue to record the strongest levels of growth across England. The highest increases for average grade 3 arable values were in the eastern counties of England, reflecting the ongoing strength of the commercial arable market (see Graph 3 in the gallery).
Supply and values
In addition, the level of growth partly reflected the shortage of supply (as noted in Graph 1 in the gallery) with the South West of England recording an increase of 3.9% compared to 2.3% in the East Midlands, 1.7% in the South East of England and 0.9% growth in the West Midlands.
The range of prices paid continues to be diverse with top prices being well above the averages discussed in this bulletin and in some cases exceeding £10,000 per acre.
In Scotland, the average value of grade 3 arable farmland remained unchanged at just over £4,000 per acre. Historically, the farmland market starts trading later north of the border and it will be interesting to see, with the current lack of supply, what happens to land values during the second quarter of this year.
