£29m Argyll forest for sale as demand for trees endures
A 2,200-hectare Argyll forest overlooking Loch Fyne has come to the market for offers over £29million.
The sale of Glen Shira Forest offers a rare opportunity to purchase a high yielding, sizable commercial conifer forest with a mixed age structure at a time when the market is hungry for stock.
Jon Lambert, Partner at selling agent GOLDCREST Land & Forestry, said: “Improving timber prices and continued appetite for forestry underpins the market which will lead to competitive bidding for attractive well-priced properties.”
Mr Lambert said: “Glen Shira Forest is the largest commercial forest to come to the market in the UK in 2023. It has extensive areas of mature timber ready for felling alongside much younger crops and therefore provides a large age profile that will produce regular income in the years to come.
“The area has a wonderful pedigree for commercial timber production and we are confident that the property will attract significant interest from the marketplace.”
Glen Shira Forest also benefits from an extensive, good-quality internal forest road network and proximity to timber processors via agreed timber transport routes and the seaports of Ardrishaig and Campbeltown.
It is one of several forests GOLDCREST is bringing to the market this spring, including farmland, native planting schemes, broadleaf woodlands and other commercial conifer plantations.
The agency has also launched Inverneill Hill Forest, a compact, second-rotation commercial conifer forest, largely made up of Sitka spruce, on the Mull of Kintyre peninsula. Located in an area of stunning natural beauty, it extends to 98.29ha and is on the market for offers over £995,000.
Mr Lambert added: “Inverneill Hill Forest is a commercial conifer forest with wonderful easterly views across Loch Fyne. High yielding young crops are combined with native broadleaves and areas of open ground which, subject to planning, might provide a site on which to build a house. This mixed commercial forest is a very desirable property in a great location and provides a sound long-term commercial investment.”
He said: “Timber prices are firming up, after some softening in the last six months, with expectations of improved pricing through the spring and summer. The supply of forestry properties has been limited in the past three to four months but demand continues. Both these factors are important in strengthening the market.
“There is interest across all age classes from planting land to young, medium and maturing crops, from a variety of purchasers who continue to see the advantages from a fiscal, ESG and taxation perspective.
“Additionally, attractive, well-located, amenity woodlands are always highly sought after, even with the increase in bank interest rates and inflation. Prices vary considerably depending on location but we are always surprised by the number and variety of purchasers for smaller properties with high amenity value.”
Mr Lambert added: “There are two distinct elements to the market: the carbon farmer who is looking for opportunities to create carbon credits through additionality where agricultural land is converted to native broadleaves and the investor who sees timber as a strong commodity in the future, recognising the timber import requirements of the UK and general global shortage of timber.
“As such, it is a buoyant market and I expect significant interest in the wide variety of forestry properties we are launching this spring.”
