Recent searches
Search options
I'm blown away by the level of ignorance about farming among the commentariat since the UK IHT changes were announced. People talking about 'farms' as if they're all interchangeable. There's a huge difference in scale between a dairy farm in Devon, a sheep farm in Cumbria, and an arable farm in Suffolk.
Where a dairy farm may be able to function at around 250 acres and fall below the IHT band, an arable farm needs to be around 600-800 acres to be viable.
There's also variance in land values depending on where you are.
The new rules will make most arable farms under 1000 acres in southern and Eastern England unviable when anyone dies, with a massive impact on food supply ( bread, beer, vegetables, oils etc).
I think the government is on the right path, but misjudged scale. Hopefully it'll be put right promptly.