Farmland. The contract always wins.
Farms in Britain are worth four times what they were in the 90s. Farmers didn't get richer. The safest place to hide a fortune in Britain has cows in it.
THE GIST ON FARMLAND: "The contract always wins"
Why did farmland quadruple?
Farmers didn't get any richer, so what happened? Farmland is a tax planner's dream. If farmland is exempt and nothing else is, it becomes the safest place to park a fortune in Britain.
So the usual suspects started buying it up. Danish fashion tycoons, hedge fund boys, people whose first name is Shake, all acquiring the land farmers need to do farming. Prices quadrupled.
Did the reform fix it?
Family farm relief was doing the opposite of what it was meant to, which is why it got reformed in April. Except the billionaires had already restructured. Savills reported a 30% jump in farmland going into trust the moment the reform was announced.
Restructured, and the farmers got reassured.
What is the advert and what is the contract?
That's the classic cycle. Every British policy comes with an advert and a contract. The advert is what politicians tell the papers. The contract is what the tax lawyers actually read.
When the two say different things, the contract always wins.
Who does British law protect?
What it means is that British law protects the people buying the country, not the people living in it. And that's before you get to schools, hospitals, water and trains. The same customers own all of them too.
Who do you think ends up really paying?
Is farmland for farming or for investing?
Your take. One tap, then see how everyone else voted.
Quick answers
Why has farmland become so expensive?
Huw says it is exempt from tax in ways nothing else is, so it became the safest place to park a fortune and prices quadrupled.
What happened when the relief was reformed?
Savills reported a 30% jump in farmland going into trust when the reform was announced.
What is the advert and the contract?
The advert is what politicians tell the papers. The contract is what the tax lawyers read. When they differ, the contract wins.
See you on the next one.
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