Buying Farmland and Rural Land
Buying Farmland and Rural Land: A Guide to the Conveyancing Process
Buying farmland or rural land can be very different from purchasing a conventional residential property. While the basic conveyancing process is similar, agricultural and land transactions can involve additional issues relating to access, boundaries, tenancies, sporting and mineral rights, environmental matters, subsidies, planning, drainage and the way the land has historically been used.
Whether you are purchasing a working farm, additional acreage, grazing land, woodland or land for investment, careful legal investigation before exchange of contracts is essential.
This guide explains some of the key matters purchasers should consider when buying farmland or rural land in England and Wales.
1. Instructing a Conveyancer
Once terms have been agreed, you should instruct a solicitor or conveyancer with appropriate experience in agricultural and rural property transactions.
At the outset, your conveyancer will usually need information including:
The agreed purchase price
Details of the land being purchased
The selling agent’s details
Details of any lender
Evidence of your source of funds
Details of anyone purchasing the property with you
Your proposed use of the land
Your intended use is particularly important. Buying land to continue an existing farming operation can raise different legal considerations from buying it for equestrian use, development, diversification, renewable energy or investment.
Tell your conveyancer what you intend to do with the land as early as possible.
2. Understanding Exactly What You Are Buying
With a house purchase, the extent of the property is often relatively obvious. With farmland, identifying precisely what is included can require much greater care.
The sale may include several fields, farm buildings, woodland, tracks, yards, watercourses and other areas.
Your conveyancer will examine the title documentation and plans to establish the legal extent of the property.
You should also inspect the land carefully yourself.
Consider whether the title plan appears consistent with the boundaries you see on the ground. Pay particular attention to hedges, fences, ditches, tracks, gateways and areas where neighbouring landowners appear to be using part of the property.
If there is a discrepancy, raise it before exchange.
3. Registered and Unregistered Land
Not all rural land has necessarily been registered at HM Land Registry.
Land that has remained in the same ownership for many years may still have an unregistered title. If so, the seller’s ownership may need to be demonstrated through historic title deeds rather than an existing registered title.
Purchasing unregistered land can therefore involve additional investigation and documentation.
Following completion, an application for first registration may be required.
Where you are buying several parcels, it is also possible for different parts of the farm to have different title numbers or title arrangements.
Your conveyancer should establish exactly which titles and parcels form part of the transaction.
4. Access: Can You Legally Reach the Land?
Access is one of the most important considerations when purchasing agricultural land.
A gateway or track that has been used for decades does not necessarily mean that the property benefits from all the legal rights of access you may require.
Your conveyancer should investigate how the land connects to the public highway and whether access is:
Directly from an adopted public highway
Over a private road
Over neighbouring land
Through a shared farm track
Subject to a documented right of way
The wording of any right is important.
For example, a right that is adequate for traditional agricultural use may not necessarily accommodate every future use you have in mind.
Consider the practical position too. Is the access wide enough for modern agricultural machinery? Can heavy vehicles reach the property? Who repairs a shared track? Are there gates, restrictions or maintenance obligations?
Access should be considered both legally and practically.
5. Rights Affecting the Land
Rural property can be subject to numerous rights benefiting neighbouring owners or third parties.
These might include rights:
To cross the land
To drive agricultural vehicles over tracks
To use water supplies
To maintain pipes, drains or cables
To access neighbouring fields
To graze animals
To exercise sporting rights
Your conveyancer should investigate both the rights benefiting the property and the rights that other people can exercise over it.
A right that appears minor on paper may have a significant practical effect on farming operations or future plans.
6. Boundaries and Responsibilities
Boundary issues can be particularly important with farmland because boundaries may extend for considerable distances.
You should establish, so far as possible:
Where the legal boundaries lie
Which fences, walls, hedges or ditches form the boundaries
Who is responsible for maintaining them
Whether there are any known boundary disputes
Whether occupation on the ground corresponds with the legal title
Do not assume that a fence automatically marks the precise legal boundary.
If the position is unclear or particularly important to your proposed use, specialist surveying advice may be appropriate.
7. Agricultural Tenancies and Occupiers
One of the most important questions when buying farmland is who is actually occupying it.
Land may be occupied by a tenant, licensee, grazier or another farmer under a formal or informal arrangement.
Agricultural occupation can have significant legal consequences, and different statutory regimes may apply depending on the nature and history of the arrangement.
Your conveyancer will need to establish whether the land is being sold with vacant possession or subject to an existing tenancy or occupational arrangement.
If somebody other than the seller is farming, grazing livestock on or otherwise occupying the land, tell your conveyancer immediately.
Do not assume an arrangement is legally insignificant simply because it was agreed informally.
8. Sporting Rights
Sporting rights can be valuable and may not always belong to the owner of the land.
Rights relating to activities such as shooting or fishing may have been reserved to a former owner or granted to somebody else.
If sporting rights matter to you, your conveyancer should investigate whether they are included in the sale and whether anyone else has rights over the property.
The practical arrangements should also be considered, particularly if third parties have rights to enter the land.
9. Mineral Rights
Ownership of the surface does not necessarily mean that every mineral beneath the land belongs to the landowner.
Mineral rights may have been reserved historically or may belong to a third party.
Your conveyancer should review the title carefully for relevant reservations and rights.
The significance of mineral provisions will depend on their wording, the location of the property and your intended use of the land.
10. Water, Drainage and Irrigation
Water can be fundamental to agricultural property.
Establish how the farm or land obtains water and how it is drained.
Relevant issues may include:
Mains water
Private water supplies
Boreholes
Wells
Springs
Streams and rivers
Irrigation arrangements
Private drainage
Septic tanks or treatment systems
Field drains
Drainage across neighbouring land
Rights to use water and maintain pipes or drainage infrastructure should be investigated where necessary.
Physical condition is also important. Legal rights to use a private water system do not guarantee that the system is adequate or in good repair.
11. Environmental Considerations
Agricultural land can present environmental issues that may not arise in an ordinary residential purchase.
Depending on the property, investigations may need to consider matters such as:
Historic contamination
Former agricultural chemical or fuel storage
Waste disposal
Flooding
Watercourses
Protected habitats or species
Sites with environmental designations
Invasive species
Trees and woodland
Environmental schemes or management obligations
Your conveyancer can advise on appropriate searches and legal investigations, while environmental consultants or surveyors may be required where specialist technical advice is needed.
12. Planning and Development
Do not assume that owning land means you can use or develop it however you wish.
If you are buying farmland with plans for diversification or development, tell your conveyancer before exchange.
Your proposed plans might include:
Building agricultural structures
Converting barns
Creating an equestrian facility
Establishing holiday accommodation
Developing renewable energy projects
Changing the use of buildings or land
Constructing residential property
Planning rules and other regulatory requirements may apply.
Where the future use of the property is a major reason for the purchase, specialist planning advice may be appropriate before you become legally committed.
13. Restrictive Covenants
Agricultural and rural land can be subject to historic restrictive covenants controlling how the property may be used.
These might restrict building, commercial activities or particular uses of the land.
Some covenants may be old, but age alone does not necessarily mean they can simply be ignored.
Your conveyancer should identify relevant restrictions and explain their potential implications.
This is another reason why your conveyancer needs to know what you intend to do with the property.
14. Easements and Utilities
Electricity lines, telecommunications equipment, pipelines and other infrastructure frequently cross agricultural land.
There may be easements, wayleaves or other agreements allowing utility providers or neighbouring owners to install, use and maintain infrastructure.
Investigate what equipment is present and whether appropriate documentation exists.
You should also establish whether any payments are associated with equipment situated on the property and whether relevant agreements will pass to you.
15. Farm Buildings and Structures
If the purchase includes barns, sheds, grain stores, livestock buildings or other structures, consider both their legal status and physical condition.
Relevant questions may include:
Were appropriate planning permissions obtained?
Were required building approvals obtained?
Are buildings subject to restrictions on their use?
Are any buildings occupied by third parties?
Are there asbestos-containing materials?
Are structures safe and suitable for your proposed use?
Your conveyancer deals primarily with legal matters, so an appropriate building or structural survey may also be advisable.
16. Environmental and Land Management Schemes
Farmland may be subject to environmental, conservation or land-management arrangements.
Depending on the circumstances, these may involve continuing obligations, payments or restrictions affecting the way the land is managed.
If the seller participates in an agricultural or environmental scheme, establish:
What scheme applies
Which parts of the property are affected
What obligations remain outstanding
Whether the arrangement transfers to you
Whether payments have already been received
Whether repayment or other consequences could arise following the sale
These issues should be considered carefully as part of the transaction rather than assumed to transfer automatically with the land.
17. Subsidies and Agricultural Payments
Agricultural support arrangements have changed significantly over recent years and can differ between England and Wales.
If payments, grants or agricultural schemes are financially important to your purchase, obtain current advice about the particular arrangements affecting the property.
The sale contract should make clear, where relevant, how existing payments, claims and obligations are dealt with between buyer and seller.
Do not assume that purchasing the land automatically gives you the benefit of every payment previously received by the seller.
18. Public Rights of Way
Footpaths, bridleways and other public rights of way are common across farmland.
Their existence may affect privacy, security, livestock management and future development plans.
Your conveyancer’s searches and title investigations may identify relevant routes, but you should also inspect the property and discuss any apparent paths with your professional advisers.
A public right of way across a farm does not necessarily prevent agricultural use, but it may create practical responsibilities that need to be understood.
19. Overage and Clawback Provisions
Some rural land is sold subject to an overage or clawback arrangement.
This generally means that the seller may become entitled to an additional payment if a specified event occurs after completion — commonly where planning permission is obtained or the land’s development value increases.
These provisions can last for many years and can significantly affect future development and resale.
If the seller proposes an overage arrangement, make sure you understand:
What triggers payment
How the payment is calculated
How long the arrangement lasts
What happens when the land is sold
What security the seller requires
Whether ordinary agricultural development is excluded
Specialist legal advice on the drafting can be particularly important.
20. VAT and Tax Considerations
The tax treatment of agricultural land transactions can be more complicated than an ordinary house purchase.
Depending on the circumstances, issues may include Stamp Duty Land Tax, VAT and the treatment of mixed residential and non-residential property.
VAT can be particularly important where a seller has opted to tax land or buildings.
Tax consequences depend heavily on the facts of the individual transaction. Buyers should obtain appropriate legal and tax advice rather than assuming the treatment will be the same as a residential purchase.
21. Finance and Agricultural Lending
If you are borrowing to fund the purchase, agricultural lenders may have specific requirements.
Your lender may require:
A specialist valuation
Evidence of agricultural income
Business accounts or projections
Confirmation of tenancies
Environmental information
Confirmation of access and services
Additional security
Discuss funding arrangements early, particularly where the purchase includes a combination of farmland, residential accommodation and commercial agricultural buildings.
22. Exchange of Contracts
Before exchanging contracts, make sure you understand the legal and practical characteristics of the land.
By this stage, you should be satisfied with matters including:
The extent and boundaries of the property
Legal and practical access
Rights benefiting and burdening the land
Tenancies and occupation
Searches
Planning matters
Restrictive covenants
Sporting and mineral rights
Water and drainage arrangements
Environmental matters
Agricultural schemes
Finance
Tax considerations
Survey findings
Once contracts are exchanged, the parties will normally be legally committed to the transaction.
Questions about the land should therefore be investigated before, rather than after, exchange.
23. Completion and Registration
On completion, the purchase money is transferred in accordance with the contract and ownership passes to the buyer.
Your conveyancer will then deal with relevant post-completion requirements, which will normally include any required Stamp Duty Land Tax formalities and registration at HM Land Registry.
Where unregistered land is involved, first registration may be required.
Additional notices, transfers or other formalities may also be necessary depending on tenancies, rights, schemes and agreements affecting the property.
Questions Every Farmland Buyer Should Ask
Before committing to a purchase, consider the following:
What exactly am I buying?
Check the title, plans and physical boundaries.
Can I legally and practically access every part of the property?
Consider modern agricultural machinery as well as ordinary vehicles.
Who else has rights over the land?
Investigate private rights, public rights of way, utilities, sporting rights and other interests.
Is anybody else occupying or farming the property?
Establish the legal basis of any occupation.
What water and drainage arrangements exist?
Check both legal rights and physical infrastructure.
Are there restrictions on what I want to do?
Consider planning, covenants, tenancies, environmental arrangements and access rights.
Are there agricultural or environmental schemes affecting the land?
Understand the obligations as well as any potential payments.
Could I owe the seller more money in the future?
Check carefully for overage or clawback provisions.
Have I investigated the physical condition of the property?
Legal conveyancing does not replace an appropriate land, building or structural survey.
Preparation Can Make a Significant Difference
Farmland transactions frequently involve rights and obligations that have developed over generations. Historic deeds, informal access arrangements, agricultural occupation, private water supplies and environmental obligations can make the legal investigation more involved than a conventional house purchase.
The key is to identify important issues before you become legally committed.
Tell your conveyancer how you intend to use the land, inspect the property carefully, obtain appropriate surveys and specialist advice, and ask questions whenever the legal documentation does not appear to match what you see on the ground.
Final Thoughts
Buying farmland is not simply a purchase of acreage. You may also be acquiring buildings, access rights, water arrangements, environmental responsibilities and a network of legal rights and obligations affecting how the property can be used.
A thorough conveyancing investigation should therefore look beyond ownership alone.
Understanding the boundaries, access, occupation, rights, restrictions, services, environmental arrangements and intended use of the land before exchange can help you make an informed purchase and reduce the risk of unpleasant surprises after completion.
This article provides general information about purchases of agricultural and rural land in England and Wales and does not constitute legal, tax, financial, planning, environmental or surveying advice. Agricultural property transactions can involve specialist issues, and professional advice should be obtained according to the circumstances of the individual transaction.