Whether they made their fortune trading slaves, building mills or designing financial derivatives, investing one’s treasure in a stately home and a patch of English pasture is a trick of the rich as old as the hills — and it has never been more popular. Lifestyle buyers and tax-savvy investors are about to overtake farmers as the primary buyers of agricultural land, according an analysis of every public sale of over 100 acres since 1996. Farmers bought 68 per cent of the holdings for sale in 1998 but they bought only 51 per cent of those sold in the first six months of this year, according to research by the estate agents Strutt and Parker. The figures, which were based on numbers of sales rather
Lifestyle buyers and private investors are snapping up increasing amounts of UK agricultural land, according to estate agents Strutt and the Tenant Farmers Association . The firm revealed farmers made up 51% of buyers during H1 2017 , compared with 68% during H1 2017 . The southeast is the most affected region, where lifestyle investors and private buyers outnumber farmers by two to one. Farmland is not subject to inheritance tax, while a country house with land is liable to a capped stamp duty of only 5% . George Dunn , the head of Parker , called the tax breaks a "scandalous" perk.