Fresh fields and pastures new

Farms and estates are more popular than ever, both as investments and as places to escape the rigours of city life

- Penny Churchill

ACCORDING to Alex Lawson, head of farms and estates at Savills, ‘in 2020, lifestyle and amenity farms and estates were highly sought after across all price points and geographical regions, as the desire for more space and access to the countryside became a priority. Scotland and northern England saw an increased demand for greenfield forestry land in response to the rising “net-zero carbon” agenda and some Highland estates were sold for their environmental rather than their sporting credentials. Non-farming buyers accounted for 34% of deals, with new non-farmer or lifestyle purchasers making up half of these—a proportion we haven’t seen for quite some time’.

Consequently, Savills anticipates great demand for quality farms in 2021, also for those with strong amenity or environmental value, such as Folly Mill near Thaxted, Essex, a charming 222-acre residential and sporting estate that came to the market late last year. For sale as a whole or in two lots, it comprises a Grade II-listed manor house, a range of traditional outbuildings, an established shoot and an agreeable mix of arable and pasture land, interspersed with mature and semimature woodland. The agents (01245 293258) quote a guide price of £2.75 million for the whole or £2.42m for the manor house, outbuildings and 175 acres of land.

Situated in a private, but accessible location in a popular part of north Essex, to the south of the market town of Thaxted and five miles from Great Dunmow, Folly Mill was acquired in 1938 by the Renton family who, over the course of the past 80 years, have turned the estate into a well-known shoot, renowned both for its sport and its house parties.