2,500-acre Northumberland estate up for grabs

A 2,500-acre agricultural estate in Northumberland, which is one of the largest estates in the region, has been put up for sale for £18m. Offers are invited for the whole of the estate, while offers for individual plots will also be considered. Andrew Foster and Chris Walker of Watling Real Estate were appointed joint LPA receivers over the Dissington Estate, which lies around nine miles north-west of Newcastle, in July last year. They have now completed the task of taking control of the land and undertaking a detailed fact-finding operation, assessing all disposal options and implementing the optimum strategy to realise best value. Savills has been appointed to sell the estate. Foster said: “The Dissington Estate, at 2,552 acres, is a substantial agricultural estate, which includes five tenanted farms that feature a number of residential and agricultural buildings. Opportunities of this scale rarely come to the market. We are adopting a flexible marketing approach where both offers for the entirety of the estate or individual lots will be considered.” He added: “Over the last 12 months the land market has remained resilient to wider economic pressures. Land acquisitions of this nature present an opportunity for purchasers to diversify their portfolio exposure and spread the risk of their holdings across multiple sectors. The Dissington Estate, situated between the settlements of Ponteland to the east and Stamfordham to the west, includes more than 1,884 acres of arable land and 469 acres of pasture. The majority is currently let out as working farms on 1986 Agricultural Holdings Act tenancies, with a smaller amount let on Farm Business Tenancies. The estate also contains a fishing pond let to a local angling club, various let residential properties, plus some 151 acres of in-hand woodland dispersed around the estate. The residential dwellings have a total area of 27,233 sq ft and come with a wide assortment of neighbouring barns, stables, workshops, storage rooms and other outbuildings totalling another 115,000 sq ft across the estate.