Key stats

GB’s farmland market in 2025

A resilient market driven by diverse buyer and seller motivations

In 2025, less farmland was marketed in Great Britain than in 2024, yet it was still the second most active year since 2018. The total acreage marketed fell by 12% to 165,000 acres, and the number of properties offered declined by 13% to 882. Several factors drove this reduction:

• Farmers faced a succession of challenging harvests due to adverse weather and economic pressures.

• In England — the country with the largest influence on farmland supply and values — the agricultural transition is well underway, but the rollout of environmental schemes has been delayed and inconsistent. In Scotland and Wales, the transition hasn’t progressed materially yet.

• The inheritance tax (IHT) reforms announced in autumn 2024 added further complexity and uncertainty for landowners and farming families. A partial U-turn followed in December 2025.

Despite these challenges, some farming sectors, such as livestock and dairy, performed better, with strong competition for dairy farms before milk prices began to drop later in the year.

Beneath the headline figures, the supply picture is more complex. Overall, farmland supply in Great Britain matched the average for 2012–2016, our pre-Brexit and Covid reference point. Nationally, supply was 5% higher in England, 40% higher in Wales, and 3% lower in Scotland (see Figure 1).

Within England, most regions saw reduced activity, except for the East Midlands and the South West. The East Midlands stood out for its exceptional performance over the past two years. In 2025, 26,000 acres were marketed in the region, and its supply was the highest of all England’s regions for the first time since our records began in 1995. Historically, the East Midlands has been a more liquid market, likely due to its strong arable focus. Nationally, there has been a clear trend towards the sale of arable land over the past six years (see Figure 2).

Analysis of transactions in the East Midlands reveals that sellers are motivated by a broad range of factors, including retirement, institutions disposing of non-core assets, and probate. The region offers the best value grade three arable land in England, with an average price of £8,000 per acre. This competitive pricing means both private individuals and corporate entities are active buyers.

Who is selling and why?

Farm machinery dispersal sales are a strong indicator of change in the farming sector, and in 2025, there were 77% more sales than in 2019. See here for further analysis of the trend. The main reasons were retirement (32%) and changes in farming policy (30%). While these factors do not always lead to a property sale in the short term, 20% of machinery dispersal sales were directly linked to the farm being sold (see Figure 3).

According to our analysis of farmland transactions in 2025, in which Savills acted, 63% of sellers were non-farmers, 19% were farmers, and 16% were institutional or corporate bodies. The motivations for selling varied by group, but the most common was a desire to “invest elsewhere”, accounting for 33% of sellers – an increase from the five-year average of 30% (see Figure 4). Notably, sales driven by “debt and financial restructuring” rose from 26% in 2024 to 31% in 2025, well above the five-year average of 21%. For farmers, the top reason for selling was “debt and financial restructuring” (30%). “Investment elsewhere” and “death or personal reasons” each motivated 26% of sales.

Who is buying and why?

Farmers were the largest group of buyers in 2025, accounting for 45% of purchases. The majority (82%) were buying land to expand their farm, while 8% were relocating. There was especially strong interest from livestock farmers seeking to move to southern Scotland, with several buyers coming from Yorkshire and the Midlands. Their motivation was driven by Scotland’s more reliable grass growth, thanks to higher rainfall, and the better availability of ring-fenced units offering scale.

Non-farmers were the second-largest group, but their share of purchases declined from 52% in 2016 to 40% in 2025. This drop is likely due to an extended period of elevated base rates, which impacted the amenity market and reduced transaction volumes. Farms with a high proportion of residential value and smaller estates proved more difficult to sell. Using the land for farming was the primary motivation for nearly half of the non-farmer buyers (44%), while for 30% it was to fulfil their residential needs or sporting interests (see Figure 5).

Over the past decade, institutional and corporate buyers have become more active, increasing their share of purchases from 3% in 2016 to 11% in 2025. Most of these buyers (58%) intend to farm the land, while 21% purchase for investment or development, and 5% for afforestation and environmental services. Across all buyer types, just 1% of purchases were for environmental purposes in 2025, down from a peak of 7% in 2023.

Source of finance

Over 80% of farmland purchases in 2025 were funded with cash. This means that the relative returns between farmland, savings and other investments will influence the decision-making of potential buyers. On average over the past five years, 78% of successful buyers used cash, with 9% relying on capital gains rollover funds and 69% using money from other sources.

As development activity has slowed, the role of rollover money has diminished. It funded 15% of sales in 2023, but only 6% in 2025. Bank lending remains an important source of finance, yet its share has declined as cash purchases have risen: 18% of purchases in 2025 depended on bank finance, compared to a five-year average of 22%.

_{Read the articles within Spotlight: The Farmland Market below.}