Price of UK woodland on the rise

For a long time woodland in the UK was either viewed as a specialist investment or the least valuable part of a farm sale.

However, times have changed and woodland is becoming more popular as an asset class and is starting to achieve prices similar to decent arable land.

One example of this is the sale of the 840-acre Finglw Woodlands on Dartmoor, pictured below.

Last-minute bidding pushed the eventual sale price to over £1m above the property’s £3m guide price.

The buyer was a consortium of conservation charities including the National Trust and Woodland Trust.

Tom Raynham, from Knight Frank, says: “Although the purchase in this case was for conservation reasons, there were a number of strong under-bidders interested in buying the woods from an investment and taxation angle.”