ONE of the largest and most diverse agricultural property sales in decades is expected to raise more than £40 million for Herefordshire Council.

The smallholding estates and properties – consisting of 59 lots – are being sold in a move to raise funds to support the delivery of priority services.

The lots cover more than 4,000 acres and range in estimated value from around £175,000 to £2 million.

Land and rural estate agents Fisher German are handling the sale of the properties which currently earn the council around £400,000 a year but have a liability of almost £3 million.

The vast majority of the properties are vacant and they include farms, smallholdings, farmland, houses and cottages.

Stuart Flint, head of agency at Fisher German, said the size and scope of the sale was very unusual.

“It is very rare for such a wide range of property holdings to be sold in a single process – and this sort of sale happens once every 10 years or so.

“The lots range from cottages and smallholdings, to the Grade II* listed Clearbrook Farm House at Pembridge plus larger tracts of land and commercial farms, and the valuation process and consultation with tenants has taken more than 12 months.

“The diversity of what is on offer also makes it unusual as there are development opportunities, big houses, small houses, extensive farm building ranges, properties with river frontages and a very wide range of bare land acreages.

“The properties also run the 40 mile length of the county so the logistics have also been a challenge.”

Fisher German has a team of 12 staff working on the project, and draft contracts have already been drawn up for all the properties on offer.

Mr Flint added: “We have had to establish an online data room so people can access the huge amount of background and legal information which has been compiled.

"All the searches and enquiries have already been undertaken and all the contracts are ready and in place as the sales are by informal tender.

“At this stage we are expecting a range of interested parties. In theory one party could buy all the lots but that is perhaps unlikely given the diversity of the portfolio.

“We are expecting interest from institutions, expanding farmers, developers and local agri-businesses, as well as ‘lifestyle’ buyers and people who see this as an opportunity to take on ‘a project’ in what is a really beautiful part of the world.

“Certainly the next two months are going to be busy – but fascinating.”

Details of the sale, which runs until July 5, are available at fgherefordfarmsales.com

The decision to sell off the council’s smallholdings estate has been one of the most controversial of recent years.

Many of the 45 tenant farmers expressed their disgust when they were told in 2015 that they would soon need to leave their homes and businesses.

The debate only intensified this year when Herefordshire Council was ordered by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to reveal more details from a report into its tenanted farms.

In making the report available to the public, the council had redacted sections on the grounds of commercial sensitivity.

But, after a request from the NFU, the ICO agreed more information should to be made available from the report, produced for the council by land agent Fisher German in 2014.

Some of the redacted sections showed the advice to sell off only part of the smallholdings estate and “continue to provide a means for first generation farmers to enter the industry”, claimed the NFU.

In response, Herefordshire Council spokesperson said the initial draft Fisher German report was “incomplete and never finalised”.

NFU deputy president Minette Batters said members understood that part of the estate would have to be sold off – but not all of it.

“All the while we argued that county farms provide a vital role in allowing that first foot on the ladder for new entrants to the industry,” she added.