Tenancy opportunity on offer

Prospect Farm will provide the new tenants with a rare business opportunity in a renowned dairy farming area. This ring-fenced farm offers extensive outbuildings, 239 cubicles, a Fullwood 12/12 milking parlour, loose housing and crop storage together with 3-bedroom detached bungalow. The land in the main is a mixture of temporary and permanent grassland, with the majority of land capable of being ploughed and is split into 24 separate fields. A further estimated 65 acres of land at Allerby is available on an annual grazing licence by separate negotiation.

Prospect Farm is being let under a long-term ten-year, Farm Business Tenancy (FBT), which will commence on April 1, 2020, and expire on the March 31, 2030.

On launching the details of this Dairy Farm FBT, Thomas Armstrong, director and chartered surveyor for H&H Land & Estates, said: “This is a good-sized and high-quality dairy farm offering tremendous scope with high-quality grazing. Farms such as this coming onto the open market for a long term FTB are increasingly few and far between and as such we are expecting considerable interest.”

More specifically, the farm includes loose housing and cubicles, bulk tank room, milking parlour, two covered collecting yards, indoor feed areas, cubicle shed, extensive concrete yard, two 3-ring slurry towers, two external feed stores, lean-to general purpose shed, loose housing, crop store, Dutch barn, loose housings, two metal cake towers, hardcore standing and silage pit.

Included in the letting are 90.63 of Non-SDA Basic Payment Scheme Entitlements, which will be transferred to the successful Tenant at no extra cost for the period of the tenancy.

Tender offers, together with all supporting documents, are to be submitted in a sealed envelope clearly marked ‘Prospect Farm Tender’ to H&H Land & Estates Limited, Borderway, Rosehill, Carlisle, CA1 2RS, no later than 12 noon Wednesday, February 19, 2020.

All tenders should be submitted on the correct form available from H&H Land & Estates. In addition, prospective tenants are advised to make their interest in the additional land at the tender submission stage.

Understandably all tenders will be rigorously assessed by the landlord as to the suitability of the individual proposals, so here Thomas gives some advice to consider when compiling the tender: “In order to be successful in securing a Farm Business Tenancy like Prospect Farm in the current competitive market, you need to ensure that your application stands out from the rest, so you must show knowledge and an in-depth understanding of your proposals. The submission must demonstrate that you are a farmer who has experience and vision and the business plan should outline the opportunities that you propose to bring to the farm and demonstrate your competitive advantage.”

Thomas is keen to outline that a robust tender should include the following:

• Background - Ensure you highlight your personal attributes, breadth of experience and your professional background, very similar to what you would put on a CV. Include any clubs and societies you are members of and detail any land or property you own or rent and whether it will be retained.

• Financials – it is important to view the farm first so that your business plan is relevant to the specification of Prospect Farm and demonstrates where you plan to invest. Be sure to provide an overview of your current financial situation including calculating your assets and liabilities to get to a “current net worth” and provide a 3-year cashflow forecast which sets out planned income and expenditure on a month-by-month basis.

• Risks - as with any long-term business plan, you should identify both the positive and negative factors which could influence your business. An analysis which identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats will demonstrate to a landlord that you have a deeper and wider understanding of the general market.

For further information please contact Shirley Dodd or Thomas Armstrong on 01228 406260.