Buying Agricultural Land: The Legal Due Diligence Checklist

Land is bought for generations, and bought mistakes last as long. Whether the purchase is the field next door at auction or an outfarm by private treaty, the legal due diligence is the same — and at auction it must all be complete before bidding, because the hammer creates an unconditional contract. Here is the checklist we work through.

Title and Maps

• Folio and map v the ground: do the fences match the Land Registry map? Discrepancies are manageable if identified — and dangerous if discovered after closing (see boundary disputes);
• Burdens on the folio: rights of way, turbary, sporting rights, charges and old covenants;
• Unregistered parcels: confirm what is actually registered and what will need first registration;
• Seller’s capacity: executors need their Grant; co-owners and spouses must all be committed before you spend money.

Access, Water and Services

• Access: registered frontage or an express, registered easement — the non-negotiable check (see rights of way);
• Water: wells and their location relative to boundaries, group scheme connections, stock access to watercourses;
• Wayleaves: ESB lines, pipelines and their corridors, which constrain buildings and solar ambitions.

Occupation, Entitlements and Use

• Who is on the land: conacre takers, tenants, informal grazers — and whether you buy with vacant possession;
• Entitlements: included or not, and the scheme-year mechanics of transfer (see transferring entitlements);
• Designations and planning: SAC/SPA/NHA constraints, planning status of yards and buildings, unauthorised structures you would inherit.

Funding and the Family Plan

Confirm loan approval timing against the completion date the contract will impose, and think one generation ahead: whose name goes on the folio is a succession decision, not an afterthought — buying in the successor’s name, or jointly, can serve the wider plan. Tax angles (stamp duty, reliefs for young trained farmers or consolidation) belong with your accountant before contracts.