News 
Crown Estate re-letting programme set to boost rural businesses
24 February 2012
The Crown Estate is letting four farms on the open market, signalling a boost for rural businesses. The aim is to attract tenders from different types of farming business, maximising the economic potential of each property and attracting new entrants to farming.
The leases, across three of The Crown Estate’s five Scottish rural estates, are a mixture of Limited Duration Tenancies (LDT) and Short Limited Duration Tenancies (SLDT). The Crown Estate is working to improve the configuration and viability of farms, helping to strengthen rural communities in Dumfries and Moray.
The properties include:
• Lower Mill of Tynet, Fochabers Estate: 52 ha of arable and pasture and rough grazing on a 10 year limited duration tenancy
• Achlichnie Farm, Ballindalloch, Glenlivet Estate: 206 ha arable pasture and rough grazing on a 10 year limited duration tenancy
• Wamphraygate Farm, Applegirth Estate : 132 ha mainly grass on a five year short limited duration tenancy
• Saughtrees Farm, Applegirth Estate: 227 ha mainly grass on a five year short limited duration tenancies
On the Applegirth Estate, the process of reconfiguring the farms will involve the sale of 239 ha of farmland at Pumplaburn, a well equipped dairy unit currently farmed as an arable and livestock enterprise. This will be the first sale of agricultural land on one of The Crown Estate’s Scottish estates for five years.
Alan Laidlaw, The Crown Estate’s Head of New Business Development for the rural estate, said: “We want to encourage new entrants with drive and innovation who can help boost the long-term viability of farming in these areas. We are keen to hear from those interested in a new opportunity, with details of how they are supported financially and in business terms”.
“However we have not restricted the lettings to new entrants as we believe that there are options within the lettings that will suit different types of farming business”.
“This forms part of our wider effort to increase the numbers of new people coming into farming and rural businesses, supporting an important Scottish Government objective. It builds on a joint initiative we established last year with Scottish Land & Estates, NFU Scotland, and Forestry Commission to create opportunities of different types and develop ideas to make it easier for people to enter the sector.
“We will work in partnership with the tenants, as we do across our estate, for the benefit of their businesses and the wider community. Recent examples include a joint project to install onsite solar panels to provide secure, affordable energy supply - and an investment of £1 million to rebuild snow-damaged buildings in Moray.”
The Crown Estate currently has 17 LDTs and 29 SLDTs in place.
Douglas McAdam, CEO of Scottish Land & Estates said: “Continuing the recent momentum from Buccleuch Estates, the Forestry Commission and some of our other member estates, The Crown Estate is to be commended for creating this suite of letting opportunities which is very much part of the ethos of the joint initiative we are developing to create new opportunities in the sector. Opportunities are available and we look forward to seeing some new generation farmers coming forward to grasp them.”
For more information on leasing Lower Mill of Tynet or Achlichnie Farm contact Smith Gore’s Fochabers office on 01343 823000, and for more information on leasing Wamphraygate or Saughtrees farms - or acquiring Pumplaburn Farm contact their Dumfries office on 01387 263066.
ends
For press information contact:
Andrew Doe, The Crown Estate, tel 0207 851 5340, email andrew.doe@thecrownestate.co.uk
Notes to editors
• The Crown Estate manages a highly diverse £7 billion property portfolio across the UK.
• We pay all of our surplus revenue (profit) to the Treasury for the benefit of the public: in 2010/11 this was £230.9 million, with £9.9 million coming from Scotland.
• The Crown Estate is committed to working in partnership with the Scottish Government and members of the Scottish Parliament, local authorities and a wide range of other stakeholders to safeguard the long-term interests of the environment and the communities with which we work.
• In Scotland, The Crown Estate includes:
- The marine estate, which consists of over half the foreshore and the seabed out to the 12 nautical mile territorial limit. The Crown Estate has the right to explore and utilise the resources of the UK continental shelf (excluding oil, gas and coal), including the right to license renewable energy in the form of offshore wind, wave and tidal power. We are working with our partners to ensure that Scotland is well placed to take advantage of the benefits that renewables will bring through employment and by reducing carbon emissions.
- The rural estate, which comprises 37,000 hectares and includes the Glenlivet, Fochabers, Applegirth, Stirling and Whitehill estates. It includes 204 agricultural tenancies and 110 residential properties.
- The urban estate, which includes retail property in Edinburgh.
• The Crown Estate in Scotland is managed from its Edinburgh Office at 6 Bell’s Brae Edinburgh EH4 3BJ.
