Worcestershire Newsletter July 2015


Welcome to the first Worcestershire newsletter from our teams in our two Worcester offices and up the road in Bromsgrove. In this issue we would like to introduce you to some of our team and include some useful articles that we hope you find interesting.

We want you to be able to choose what information you would like to receive so you can update your preferences. It is also very easy to unsubscribe but do bear in mind that we use this system for invitations to our events. So if you wish to keep in touch with us socially or receive updates on important land and property issues, unsubscribing will mean that you no longer receive these invites.

We will be at the Hanbury Country Show on Saturday 4 July so if you plan to attend, do come along to say hello, we'd love to see you. 



Country home, country bills?

 

Have you just purchased a Country house with land, or do you own a large house with high running costs?

“Fisher German can help by providing country house owners with an effective property and cost management service, taking the hassle out of day-to-day duties”, says Yan Gittins, based in the firm’s Worcester office.

“Country homeowners who are busy people may find running the weekend retreat an unacceptable drain on precious family time. Owning and running a large house in the countryside perhaps with a cottage or some stables, can be a daunting task to a new purchaser. Drawing on our extensive experience of rural estates and property management, we are able to offer owners a flexible package to suit a client’s needs and pocket”, he continues.

While some suffer from ‘runaway costs’, many others miss opportunities for increased income or other benefits in kind. The residential letting of cottages and annexes, diversification and grants, and rationalisation of staff including gardeners, cleaners, home helpers etc all have a part to play.

“Many country home owners take pleasure in entertaining and enjoying their homes at the weekends, and wish to come home late on a Friday evening to a house which is fully functional and ready to receive guests without the worry of a big pile of bills or a staff crisis”, says Yan.

The country home management package includes property maintenance programmes and schedules, staff management (including payroll and employer/employee relationships), insurance valuations and renewals, budgeting with cost monitoring services, and general overseeing of property ownership and tenure issues which arise in any year.

Yan concludes: “the all inclusive service offers owners peace of mind in the knowledge that management decisions are geared to the client’s needs and day-to-day issues will have been discussed and resolved well in advance.”

For further information, contact Yan Gittins on 01905 459422 email yan.gittins@fishergerman.co.uk

 

Click here to read more about our estate management services.



Energy crops for anaerobic digestion

 

The growth in the number of farm based anaerobic digesters over the last four years has created a market for agricultural energy crops. These range from the traditional maize silages to increasingly popular use of grass silage, energy beet and whole crop rye, as well as farm based waste such as poultry litter, cattle manures and slurries.

Falling soft commodity prices, increasingly volatile input and crop prices, as well as a reduction in the area of sugar beet contracted to British Sugar, have all increased growers’ interest in supplying crops to anaerobic digesters. It is not just the prospect of finding a more stable market for agricultural produce which is encouraging growers to review their options, however. Pests, disease and weed pressure resulting from intensive crop rotations, together with the reducing effectiveness of chemicals to control black grass and other diseases have all encouraged growers to look at longer and more sustainable rotations.

In many parts of the country where land use has been predominantly for combinable, or root crops, there is also a growing issue of low organic matter in soils and the use of digestate helps to put organic matter back into the soil, particularly for example when part of the rotation includes a grass ley.

Having a proportion of the arable land in energy crop production therefore helps growers in terms of widening their combinable crop rotation, potentially stabilising their margins, widening the rotation and returning organic matter to the soil. This fits well with developers and investors looking for growers to provide a regular and secure source of energy crops and source of land to accept digestate onto.

Some indicative values across England are set out below:

Region N West W Mids E Mids E Anglia S East
Maize 32-34 32-34 32-34 34-37
Rye/W’Crop 30-34 28-33 29-33 30-33 32-34
Beet 27-29 26-28 26-28
Grass 28-30 28-30 25-27

The reduction in the Feed-in Tariff and lower margins for new AD Plants as the FiT rates reduce & RHI degression looms, however, is beginning to put pressure on the energy crop prices offered. A widely used benchmark is the &/tonne of dry matter (DM) material delivered to the AD plant clamps. This has typically been around the &1/t/% DM but there are signs that the market is offering less than this in some regions. For some producers this can mean that they are better of growing other crops or leasing land to the plant operators rather than take the risk of growing the crop themselves.

Both parties therefore need to do their sums carefully to ensure that they can both benefit in the long term from these sorts of contract being entered into. When grain prices rise and arable margins improve, there will be pressure on developers to review pricing policies which will have an impact on profitability and cash flow later on.

It is also important that both parties are realistic about the yields and dry matter that can be delivered to ensure that they can both meet their parts of the contract and develop long-term sustainable relationships. Although energy crop supply contracts will help growers to even out the volatility of international commodity prices and AD Plant operators to improve the security of their feedstock supply, it has to work for both parties to ensure that both can be financially profitable in the long term.

The detail of the supply contract terms therefore need careful thought in terms of the medium to long term consequences over a range of economic conditions for both parties. Growers should still consider supplying AD plants as an opportunity and for those with a suitable location with a gas main nearby or good grid connection consider leasing their site for a developer. It might be a better earner than the crops!

For further information contact David Kinnersley on 07501 720405 email david.kinnersley@fishergerman.co.uk

 

Click here to find out more about anaerobic digestion.



Online challenge

 

Countless times I am asked about the threat to traditional estate agency businesses from online-only operators. I have spectated, studied and investigated, intrigued at the constant stream of start-ups, the emergence of new players run by non-property professionals and bemused by crowdfunding activity providing a fraction of the vast capital required to establish a true presence.

We have kept an open mind, even considered hybrid solutions for our own operation but in recent months I have reached a conclusion - for all but very 'standard' residential property, online only sales will never establish more than a modest foothold in our marketplace. I have not encountered one success story but we have picked up the pieces of numerous failures.

Not only are the sales of both rural and city properties often complex with the middle and upper reaches of the residential market characterised by convoluted transactions but also the entire process necessitates a high degree of human interaction to gain a result, never mind a good one.

The web is a powerful thing and I would never turn back the clock, it allows us to reach far flung markets at the touch of a button but regardless of market conditions the sale of residential and agricultural property can go terribly wrong if not handled with care. Getting the price right, choosing the optimum method of sale, creating eye-catching presentation that adds value, negotiating hard to get the best deal and chasing the sale through the legal quagmire remains as challenging as pre-internet days. Only a human can accomplish this effectively. There are also many more ways to find a buyer than online, so all is well, we will not be turning into machines just yet!

For further information about buying or selling property contact Tom Dennes on 07587 033061 or email here 

 

Click here to search properties for sale through the Worcester office.

 



Meet the team

 

We have three teams in the Worcestershire area.


Click below to meet the Worcester Rural team, based at Blackpole

 

 

Click below to meet the Worcester Agency team, based in Worcester city centre

 

 

Click below to meet the Bromsgrove team

 

   





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