Farms for sale in England hit 20-year high after Labour tax raid | UK | News
However, this move may have increased “uncertainty” in the sector, with 177 farms available for sale in the first half of 2026; This figure is the highest in any six-month period since 2007. This also represents a 16% increase over the five-year average, according to real estate agency Strutt & Parker.
Sam Holt, head of the firm’s real estate and agriculture department, said extreme weather conditions and rising costs of machinery, fuel and fertilizer also contributed to this trend.
“It’s mainly small farms coming to market,” he told the Financial Times: “It’s been a really tough few years for the farming sector.
“Downward pressure on farm incomes and rising input costs makes you start to question how sustainable it is to run a farm.”
The change in viability may result in the expansion of smaller, family-run farms into larger properties.
Industry consultancy Anderson Center shows the number of full-time farms in the UK falling from 66,510 in 2000 to 55,980 in 2010 and 51,350 in 2025.
Mr Holt said that while the Government’s disincentive to buy farmland because of tax benefits appeared to be successful, returns to working farmers had become so “poor” that buyers looking to farm the land were also put off.
He added that the future viability of the sector now depends on the Government’s approach and the delivery and implementation of the Agriculture Roadmap.
But Mr Holt said the “more influential factor” when it came to current sentiment was the resignation of Sir Keir Starmer, which had “brought uncertainty into the market and speculation about future tax policy”.
