The coming year is looking promising, but people are still being cautious about when they choose to put farms and rural property on the market.

That’s the message from Savills director of rural agency, Evelyn Channing.

Ms Channing, who is based in the firm's Edinburgh office, explained: “Gearing up, is the best way to describe the stage we’re at just now. We don’t have anything on the market yet, but we are looking at he middle of April for some big launches.

“From a farmland point of view, we have around 8250 acres getting ready to go – I would say just over half of that is coming from big estates with good farm land on them, and the rest is coming from good commercial farming units that we think will attract attention from far and wide.

“We also have a few good small parcels of land coming as well, and a few lifestyle offerings. I would say for us that lifestyle sales are anything up to 150 acres.”

Currently, Savills expectation is that the farms that are coming, because they are commercial and of a good scale, will get a strong interest and appetite.

“Last year, we saw a lot of business from those with roll over funds, that have a time limit to spend their money. I was sometimes surprised at what people were going for quality wise, etc, but when people are under pressure to spend, that’s what happens, and that’s what keeps the market going, regardless of other factors”, Ms Channing continued.

“People also had a good farming year in 2022, so that does always help.”

She explained that the level of interest they have had on one farm on the market already, Chapel Farm, near Duns, has been promising.

“We have been really encouraged by the level of enquiries received and the number of viewings – 35 – since launching it to the market in February. We have had a number of people view who are based in Scotland, but the majority of interest has come from farmers who are based south of the border.

"It is evident that these buyers are seeking a better quality of life, value for money, good land and buildings. On the back of this interest we have set a closing date for the April 5," she said.

Towards the end of last year, an impact was seen from rising interest rates and Ms Channing said that definitely effected some parties who would need to call on borrowing to fund purchases.

Uncertainty over future agricultural policy, is also hanging over the market.

“Despite the fact we don’t know what effect agricultural policy is going to have, we are seeing signals from the Scottish Government about food production being a priority, and that is making buyers from down south and elsewhere, look north of the border.”

This year is looking like Savills Rural are going to be very active in the South-east of the country this year, with bits, but not a huge amount, in Dumfries and Galloways. Last year, Aberdeenshire was their area of highlight, with Ms Channing pointing out that these things seem to go in patches, year on year.

She told The SF: “We’re predicting another strong year, but do foresee it maybe being a bit tight on the offering front. Last year, we had just over 24,000 acres advertised, and we’ve had maybe a third of that in the first quarter of this year, so we may go over that in 2023, but we will see what the year brings. My gut is telling me things will still be tight this year.”

Ms Channing explained that there is still a lack of clarity on the future direction which agriculture might take, with the proposed new Agriculture Bill still fairly opaque and that is holding people back from deciding what they might do with their farms and businesses.

“Most of the sale we are seeing, are down to retirement, or business restructuring, because of succession issues,” she said. “Personally, I still think interest rates are quite low in the grand scheme of things. People are also being faced with labour market challenges.

“People generally need to know what they are heading towards and what support they can expect,” she said in comment about the Agriculture Bill.

“Will the support offered be on an environmental basis, or be down to production rates? Where will the support come for land?”