Up to 40 tenant farms on Duchy of Cornwall land could be put up for sale, leaving families to buy their holdings or go, the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) has said.
The TFA told the BBC the holdings are spread from Devon and Cornwall to Herefordshire and the Midlands. The BBC reported that the Duchy could not confirm how many tenants are affected.
The sales are part of a ten-year plan by the Prince of Wales to dispose of about 20% of the estate. The Duchy has said the £500m raised will go towards affordable housing, local communities and environmental projects.
The estate covers about 51,800 hectares (128,000 acres) in 19 counties. It has around 700 agricultural lettings, including roughly 300 whole farms with a farmhouse, land and buildings. Tenancies range from fixed terms to lifelong, and some can be passed down in a family.
Bradninch at the centre
The sales began at the Bradninch estate, near Cullompton in Devon, where nine farms are involved. The TFA says Duloe in Cornwall has now been added, along with single holdings elsewhere.
Farmers Guide reported, citing The Observer, that some Bradninch tenants who expected to stay for life have been given six months to buy or leave. The Duchy confirmed to the magazine that eight of the nine farming tenants are in active talks about buying some or all of their land. A spokesperson called these “important and deeply personal decisions”.
Mary Ryan, a former GP and Liberal Democrat councillor who lives near the estate, told the BBC some tenants are suffering serious mental and emotional distress. She said the Duchy was reported to have apologised in October, but she still described its handling of the process as “pretty dire”.
George Dunn, the TFA’s chief executive, said talks with the Duchy were continuing. He told the BBC that poor communication had left tenants uncertain over valuations, timing and their options.
He welcomed the Duchy’s assurance that nobody will be made homeless. But he said not every tenant can or wants to buy, and that fair alternatives are needed for those who cannot afford to.
The Duchy has said all along that tenants are offered first refusal. In a statement to ITV News West Country in March, it said the offer often comes with a discount and that most tenants it had spoken to planned to buy.
The wider plan was first reported by The Times. Property Week reported that the Duchy will concentrate on five "heartlands": the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Dartmoor, Bath and Kennington in south London. Chief executive Will Bax told The Times the prince felt the Duchy “shouldn’t just exist to own land”.
Matthew Morris, the Duchy’s rural director, told the BBC there were “no cliff edges” for tenants and that the estate was working with each one. He said the Duchy remained committed to farming but that other disposals may follow.
He said the sale had been a rough process at times, but pointed to farmers who had wanted to own their land for generations.
“In the main, our mission is to sell to our farmers,” Morris said.
Sources: Farmers Guide, ITV News West Country, Property Week, BBC News
This story was compiled by the MDW Newsdesk with AI-assisted tools, using the reporting credited above.
