Challenges and opportunities for rural estates and businesses

Rural landowners have grappled with unprecedented change in recent years, from the uncertainty over Britain’s future relationship with the EU, to the ramifications of Covid-19 for supply chains and the wider economy.

Beneath these shifting geopolitical sands lie a host of regulatory, legal and financial transformations specific to the rural economy that, together, are likely to significantly alter the way land is owned and managed.

They include new regulations brought about by the growing importance of ESG (Environment, Social, Governance), the rise of compulsory purchase as a result From April this year, you cannot continue to let properties to existing tenants if your property is rated F or G of mega-projects like High Speed 2 (HS2), and changes to legislation in an attempt to improve productivity on UK farms.

Many more are explored below. Knight Frank’s team of rural property experts have backgrounds spanning surveying, asset management, finance and more. Here, they guide readers of The Rural Report through a selection of the issues that will have the greatest influence on landowner decision-making during 2020 and beyond.

1. The regulatory impact of the green agenda

2. Compensation and the rise of the ‘mega-project’

3. Lending amid an outbreak

4. Succession in a new age

5. From the land to the cloud

6. Renters reform to tip the balance

7. Agriculture and the woodland resurgence

8. The taxman calls time on the grazing licence

9. Welsh landlords’ and tenants’ obligations climb

10. Mineral water on tap

11. Security sophistication for a new decade

12. Planning for new homes in rural locations

13. Dealing with lenders amid an outbreak

14. Getting the wages right

15. Stewardship: Build to Last

16. No small beer: Business transformation amid a pandemic

17. Shooting and Covid-19 – check your insurance and terms of business

18. Renewables are still an attractive option for rural estates