Landmark Issue 19 2021 SINGLE PAGES

Turbulence and opportunity Covid-19, Brexit and climate change will have many economic and social implications: some painful, some overdue, others welcome, many positive. As advisers to land-based rural businesses, we predict the following will be high on the list. More land will come to market. The current market in agricultural land is relatively small and many transactions are “off-market”. Debt finance has been available at low levels for the last decade and the 2016 Brexit vote caught lenders unawares. The Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and its predecessors have kept many smaller farm businesses in the black. BPS begins to taper from 1 January 2021 down to nothing in 2028, and many may take the one-off lump sum payment, rather than struggle to unlock subsidy under the new Environment Land Management Scheme (ELMS), providing “public benefits for public goods”. All that militates towards more agricultural land coming onto the market, whether it is land which attracts farmers and growers, or housebuilders or lifestyle buyers. With increased landholdings, there are likely more opportunities for diversification. The end of Agricultural Property Relief (APR) Its demise has been predicted for years, but it is an easy target for a Treasury paying for Covid-19. Though the yield to the Exchequer from its abolition would be relatively small, APR looms large in generational planning for land-based businesses. Business Property Relief for IHT is much less vulnerable. An increased reliance on it is likely to drive diversification and entrepreneurial activity, as well as taking land back in-hand. A culture change regarding public access? Lockdowns and staycations have seen a significant increase in the use of public rights of way, and, encouraged by mapping apps which do not discriminate between paths and public paths, a significant increase in trespass. With changes to working practices, selling, and letting agents are seeing a greater demand for rural living. ELMS, when fully on stream in 2024, will promote permissive access in return for payment. The 2026 extinguishment of unrecorded public rights of way hangs over landowners and user groups alike: will the Government bring it into force? So, public access will be a hot topic for the 2020s. Will the ability to unlock subsidy and the potential to develop diversified tourist and leisure businesses based on access see a change in approach to this totemic issue for landowners? Plenty can be done to avoid public rights being acquired. Insurance and exclusion notices can protect against claims. Will that, however, be enough to overcome deep-seated attitudes? We look forward to exploring these and many other topics as part of our collaboration with the RAU and its alumni during 2021. ISSUE 19 | 2021 31 INDUSTRY & LEADERSHIP James Pavey, Head of Rural Business &Estates, IrwinMitchell LLP