The Fauld
Longtown, Carlisle, Cumbria

SALE REPORT

The auction of Fauld Farm, near Longtown in Cumbria, attracted fierce bidding from a packed Memorial Hall in the town on Friday 9th November 2007 when local land agents C & D Property Services offered the property for sale. The farm, which is renowned in the locality as a high quality grassland unit, extends to around 315 acres and lies just outside Longtown, about seven miles north of Carlisle and Junction 44 on the M6 Motorway. The sale included Single Payment Scheme Entitlements to accompany the land. The property includes a handsome five-bedroom farmhouse and traditional steading. Good local amenities and the Longtown Auction Mart are within touching distance of the farm. The property was offered for sale in five Lots and as a Whole, and was eventually sold as a Whole for £2,540,000 to a purchaser from Northern Ireland. This was well in excess of the auction guide of £1,740,000, and is believed to set a new record as the highest total figure to be achieved in the locality for a farm sold by public auction.

Lot 1, which included the farmhouse, traditional steading and adjoining land totalling around 42.06 acres, was bid to £660,000 (£15,692 per acre). Lot 2 consisted of a single enclosure and adjoining disused railway. The Lot extended to around 97.02 acres in total, and was bid to £460,000 (£4,741 per acre). Lot 3 comprised an excellent block of grassland with good road frontage, totalling around 79.76 acres, and was bid to £425,000 (£5,328 per acre). Lot 4, a 93.03-acre block of grassland, was bid to £425,000 (£4515 per acre). Lot 5 consisted of a newly-reseeded 3.05-acre paddock with good road frontage and was bid up to £24,000 (£7,869 per acre). The total bid for all five Lots combined came to £1,989,000. However, that figure was easily surpassed when bids were then invited for the Whole. Here the bidding started at £2,000,000, and eventually reached £2,540,000 when the farm was sold to a bidder from Northern Ireland.

A pair of cottages, which had originally formed part of the Fauld Farm, were then auctioned separately. These were bid to £150,000 when they were withdrawn, having failed to reach their reserve price. A sale was later negotiated privately with the highest bidder.

The Fauld had been owned by Mr Francis Tinning, before his death in May 2007. Mr Tinning was the last of several generations of the Tinning family to farm the Fauld. He was well-liked and respected locally, and the auction of the farm marks the close of an era, bringing to an end its historic connection with the Tinning family.

The price realised for the farm, and the fact that the agents were able to attract a huge amount of interest from both local farmers and outside investors, represents further evidence of a continued optimism in the farming industry and a buoyant agricultural property market, in spite of the current pressure on farm incomes and profit margins.