The Sutton Bridge Estate is one of the most important commercial farming estates in south Lincolnshire and is now for sale on behalf of The Henry Smith Charity.
The Estate which is situated around the village of Sutton Bridge and amounts to 5,044 acres is undoubtedly one of the largest of its kind currently on the market. It already has a considerable income stream from agricultural and residential property.
Sutton Bridge is offered for sale as a whole and in four lots. Quoting a guide price of £55 million, agent Savills is handling the sales process.
Farming
All the 4,570 acres of arable land is classified grade 1 and the silt soils sustain a diverse array of crops including cereals, oilseed rape, potatoes, field vegetables, onions and sugar beet. The fields are generally large, facilitating efficient modern farming practices, and are easily accessible from public roads and private access tracks.
The estate supports a large number of tenants across multiple tenancies, ranging from larger equipped holdings of up to 545 acres to much smaller bare land parcels. There are multiple farm steadings across the estate that vary in design and specification but include crop storage facilities, workshops, general-purpose agricultural buildings, traditional structures and farm offices. Recent investments have been made to enhance and modernise several of the buildings.
Tenancies are mainly a variety of short and medium-term Farm Business Tenancies with smaller areas occupied by Agricultural Holdings Act tenancies. The current agricultural rent roll for the estate is £1,082,134 per annum.
There is an area of saltmarsh to the north which is let on a 999-year lease to Natural England.
Residential
The portfolio includes 33 houses and cottages spread throughout the Estate – these are in addition to residential property included within agricultural tenancies. The properties are all let under Assured Shorthold Tenancies, with a current residential rent roll of approximately £260,640 per annum.
Development opportunities
To the west of the village of Sutton Bridge is an allocation for 210 homes.
Alex Lawson, head of Rural Agency at Savills says; "The Sutton Bridge Estate is one of the most important and largest commercial farming enterprises in the Lincolnshire Fens. The multiple leased farms generate a considerable rental income and there is potential for further income generation through the realisation of development opportunities."