Rostons has recently agreed the first deals of the 2015 entitlement trading period. Even though the busy 2014 trading period only finished in April it won’t be long until deals are being agreed for this year’s trading.
In previous years, late spring and early summer has proven to be a quiet time in trading terms, but this year appears to be different. Even though the April 2nd deadline has only recently passed we have already received an unusually high number of enquiries and expressions of interest from both buyers and sellers.
There seem to be two key reasons for this:
For vendors, the rule set for 2015 states that if entitlement is not claimed on in 2015 it will fall automatically into the national reserve. This makes the thought of a selling surplus entitlement much more appealing than losing it completely for no financial return.
There is also the new 5ha rule for the Basic Payment Scheme which states that anyone with a claim less than 5ha will not be allowed to claim in 2015. It is predicted a lot of these entitlement will come onto the market in the months ahead of us.
For purchasers, the new trading deadline of the 19th October 2014 has spurred people needing additional entitlement into action now, rather than waiting for the trading window to open again in mid January 2015, at which point the new Basic Payment Scheme will be in place.
In 2005/06, when we entered into what was then the new Single Payment Scheme, many farmers suffered delayed payments because of buying entitlement in the latter period, which is why we recommend anyone looking to buy do so as soon as possible.
English Non-SDA Entitlement is currently trading at £180/ha + VAT. Rostons have a number of non VAT- registered vendors also selling.
If you wish to register your requirements, whether buying or selling, please contact the Rostons Team on 01829 773000