Goldcrest Land & Forestry Group | Chartered Land & Forestry Agents
The UK Forest Market Report 2024
The annual UK Forest Market Report (FMR) produced by Goldcrest Land & Forestry Group and Tilhill provides an in-depth study of the UK commercial forestry and woodland investment market, from the perspective of both buyers and sellers. It has been produced since 1998 and is considered to be the most comprehensive publicly available record of forestry transactions in the UK.
The UK forestry industry has proved resilient in 2024, despite facing economic challenges with the market remaining strong, driven by demand for high-quality assets, stable timber prices, wider natural capital projects and a positive medium-term outlook for wood being used as a substitute for high carbon materials.
The report, launched in Edinburgh on November 19th and London on November 20th 2024, provides the most comprehensive overview of the UK forestry sector, detailing key financial trends, regional market insights, and emerging investment opportunities.
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This year’s 16-page report was written and prepared by Goldcrest Land & Forestry Group and Tilhill.
Introduction
Forestry in the UK has thus far been insulated from the worst of climate change – and may even benefit from it – but given our reliance on a single species, we need to be prepared.
As an industry we are observing the growing threats – droughts killing young trees and stressing older ones, wind from unusual directions felling mature trees, all followed up by pests and diseases preying on the weakened forests. Is the solution a wider range of species prioritising resilience over productivity? Is it avoiding having trees in marginal places where they are vulnerable due to exposure or patchy rainfall? Whatever the answer, good silviculture will be key. It will not be as easy as just growing Sitka.
And what of carbon? The Woodland Carbon Code prioritises native species, which provides further diversity. The absence of harvesting considerations and the diversity of sites means that we plant a mix of species where possible.
Planting permission for natives is not easy, but it is easier. Might the new government’s drive for more construction provide both a demand for timber and have a knock-on effect of reducing the nationwide resistance to land use change? Over the course of the past year interest rates have not changed much. Timber prices have not changed much. Yet forestry values are slightly down. What gives?
After a huge run up in values over recent years and facing tax uncertainty, some investors are taking profits or holding off on new deals. Prices have definitely changed. Only two deals this year were at a higher price per hectare than the average from 2022!
By the time this forest market report is published we’ll have seen the government budget of the 30th October but at the time of writing, forestry hasn’t been in the spotlight. Might we get caught up in broader changes to taxes or reliefs? Regardless of the outcome, there are investors looking to deploy capital once there is certainty.
Preliminary research suggests that landbased nature absorbed almost no carbon last year due to wildfires and droughts. The European spruce bark beetle has been found on Sitka spruce for the first time in England.
Download the forest market report to read more.
Forestry in the UK has thus far been insulated from the worst of climate change – and may even benefit from it – but given our reliance on a single species, we need to be prepared.
As an industry we are observing the growing threats – droughts killing young trees and stressing older ones, wind from unusual directions felling mature trees, all followed up by pests and diseases preying on the weakened forests. Is the solution a wider range of species prioritising resilience over productivity? Is it avoiding having trees in marginal places where they are vulnerable due to exposure or patchy rainfall? Whatever the answer, good silviculture will be key. It will not be as easy as just growing Sitka.
And what of carbon? The Woodland Carbon Code prioritises native species, which provides further diversity. The absence of harvesting considerations and the diversity of sites means that we plant a mix of species where possible.
Planting permission for natives is not easy, but it is easier. Might the new government’s drive for more construction provide both a demand for timber and have a knock-on effect of reducing the nationwide resistance to land use change? Over the course of the past year interest rates have not changed much. Timber prices have not changed much. Yet forestry values are slightly down. What gives?
After a huge run up in values over recent years and facing tax uncertainty, some investors are taking profits or holding off on new deals. Prices have definitely changed. Only two deals this year were at a higher price per hectare than the average from 2022!
By the time this forest market report is published we’ll have seen the government budget of the 30th October but at the time of writing, forestry hasn’t been in the spotlight. Might we get caught up in broader changes to taxes or reliefs? Regardless of the outcome, there are investors looking to deploy capital once there is certainty.