Sales and Purchases of Agricultural Land and Farms
There are many issues which must be considered when buying agricultural land and farms which require specialist knowledge and experience which many conveyancers don’t have. These may include:
- Sales including machinery and livestock.
- Sporting rights.
- Holdover rights to allow the seller access to the land after completion where crops are not included in a sale.
- Early access rights for buyers who need to start working the land before completion.
- Private water supplies, water abstraction licences and private drainage issues.
- Wayleaves for cables, pylons and pipelines and apportionment of sums due under such agreements.
- Dealing with charges over assets included in the sale.
- Environmental issues.
- Rights of agricultural tenants either on termination of their tenancy or where the tenant is to remain in occupation following the sale.
- Rights of employees and the duty to inform and where necessary consult with any employees who will transfer to the new owner under the TUPE regulations.
- Grants and obligations under agri-environmental scheme, woodland grant scheme etc.
Our farming solicitors and agricultural law specialists are experienced in dealing with issues which are unique to the agricultural sector.
We handle the whole transaction rather than the conveyancing alone including investigating unregistered title, manorial and mineral rights, apportioning wayleave and mast income, and working alongside your land agent, accountant and lender so that completion fits around harvest, rent days and the farming calendar.
Agricultural Tenancies, Grazing Licences and Contract Farming
We advise both landlords and tenants on Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 tenancies — including succession on death or retirement, rent reviews and notices to quit — and on farm business tenancies under the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995.
We also draft grazing and mowing licences, cropping licences, and contract farming and share farming agreements, structured so that occupation, control and tax treatment are what you actually intended.
Land Promotion, Options and Development Agreements
Where land has development potential, we negotiate option agreements, promotion agreements and conditional contracts, together with overage and clawback provisions, ransom strips, access rights and the easements and wayleaves a scheme will need.
Our land development and commercial property solicitors can then take matters through to infrastructure agreements and plot sales.
Diversification, Renewable Energy and Environmental Schemes
We act on solar, wind and battery storage leases, telecoms mast agreements and the option structures that sit behind them, as well as on barn conversions, holiday lets, farm shops, glamping and equestrian ventures.
We also review the property implications of environmental land management agreements, woodland creation, biodiversity net gain and nutrient neutrality deals — commitments that can bind your land for thirty years or more.
Farming Partnerships
The Partnership is by far the most common business structure adopted by farming businesses and, with a properly considered and drafted Partnership Agreement, can offer a good balance between certainty and flexibility.
Sadly, many farming partnerships do not have an up-to-date partnership agreement and, in the absence of any agreement, a farming partnership will be governed by the Partnership Act 1890.
The basic provisions set out in this act are almost certainly insufficient for a modern farming partnership and could lead to highly undesirable outcomes particularly from a tax perspective.
No partnership agreement is straightforward, but there are a number of factors unique to farming businesses which make farming partnerships all the more challenging.
Succession Planning and Rural Property Disputes
Passing on a farm is rarely just a tax question. We work with farming families on wills, trusts, lifetime gifts and partnership provisions that keep the business viable for the next generation, advising on agricultural property relief and business property relief alongside our private client team.
Where things have already gone wrong, our litigation and disputes solicitors act on proprietary estoppel and inheritance claims, boundary and rights of way disputes, tenancy and partnership disagreements, and trespass.
Why wait? Speak to our Rural Property Solicitors today…
The Agriculture and Rural Property team at Awdry Law offers specialist expertise in agricultural land, farms and rural estates, acting for owner-occupier farmers, farming partnerships, landed estates, tenant farmers and rural landowners across England and Wales.
Awdry Law has a dedicated agricultural law team operating across the South West of England from our offices in Bath, Chippenham, Devizes, Marlborough, Royal Wootton Bassett, and Swindon, serving farms and rural estates throughout Wiltshire, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, and acting further afield for clients who want a rural specialist rather than the nearest firm.
For expert advice on agricultural land, farms or rural estate matters, don’t hesitate to contact our agricultural law and rural property solicitors on 01672 518620 or complete our quick enquiry form below.
