07:38 Wednesday 30th October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
[P]AUL STAINTON: This is a shock. Farmland in Cambridgeshire is apparently hotter property than some spaces in Central London. Savills Estate Agents in Cambridge say demand for arable land here in our county is proving extremely popular with big investors. Well Adrian Wilson is a Director at Savills. He’s with us this morning. Morning Adrian.
ADRIAN WILSON: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: We were talking about this in the office yesterday. Are we talking Mayfair? Are we talking prices around Park Lane, and that sort of thing?
ADRIAN WILSON: Not quite on the same scale, but what is of interest and what’s hit the headlines is the fact that the growth of values in agricultural land has been rising at a faster rate than parts of Central London. So on a per acre basis, Central London is more expensive than agricultural farmland. But the rate of increase and the amount of demand in farmland has been better, more exciting.
PAUL STAINTON: Why do people want to snap up farmland in Cambridgeshire? You can’t build on it, can you?
ADRIAN WILSON: You can’t build on it, but it’s all to do with comparable investments. And in the past, when the general economy was booming, other forms of investment produced more attractive results, both in terms of yield and capital growth. But as the recession kicked in, agricultural land has looked a better prospect, and for instance in East Anglia, the average price of land at the moment is about £9,000 an acre. And that’s seen a growth since 2005 when it was about £2,500 an acre.
PAUL STAINTON: Wow that’s quite a ..
ADRIAN WILSON: So it’s pretty substantial growth.
PAUL STAINTON: So it’s an investment for people, and they’re hoping that growth continues.
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