Sandside, Cockerham, Lancaster, Lancashire

BEST OFFERS DEADLINE: 12PM 8TH NOVEMBER 2024. Please contact the agent for more information.

A commercial mixed farm with a substantial range of buildings, Grade 2 arable land and salt marsh

Cockerham 2.2 miles, M6 Junction 33 5.5 miles, Garstang 7 miles, Lancaster 8 miles, Preston 22 miles

4-bedroom period farmhouse with 2-bedroom loft conversion
3-bedroom bungalow built in 2012 with 1-bedroom flat
Over 100,000 square feet of steel framed buildings including a 40-point rotary parlour
352 acres of Grade 2 grass or arable land
279 acres of salt marsh

About 650 acres (263 ha) in all

Available as a whole or in up to five lots

Lot 1 – Sand Villa Farm
4-bedroom farmhouse | 3-bedroom bungalow | Substantial range of farm buildings | 40-point rotary parlour | Arable land
About 27.35 acres (11.06 ha)

Lot 2 – Land at Sand Villa Farm
Arable land with access from Gulf Lane
About 133.11 acres (53.88 ha)

Lot 3 - Land off the A588
Arable land
About 135.83 acres (54.98 ha)

Lot 4 – Land off the A588
Arable land
About 68.40 acres (27.69 ha)

Lot 5 – Salt marsh
About 285.52 acres (115.54 ha)

Sand Villa Farm
The farm has been in the same family for the past 17 years and up until April 2018, it operated as a working dairy with a herd of about 500 milking cows producing on average 9,500 litres per cow per year, sold through a contract with Meadow Foods. There are numerous other milk companies in the region. Since 2018, the owners have bought and sold cull cows from the farm which has required the daily use the De Laval rotary parlour.

The farm benefits from versatile Grade 2 soils which have been used predominantly for growing maize and grass silage as well as for livestock grazing. The farm also includes ownership of almost 280 acres of saltmarsh which lies adjacent to the farm, over the sea wall.


Lot 2 – Land at Sand Villa Farm
Arable land with access from Gulf Lane
About 133.11 acres (53.88 ha)

A central track from the rear of the farm buildings runs south to Gulf Lane offering access into all five fields of productive arable land and short-term grass leys which form Lot 2. The land’s layout provides for the efficient movement of livestock or machinery to and from the farm buildings (Lot 1). There are approximately 130 acres of farmable land within Lot 2, the remainder being the farm tracks, hedges and drainage ditches.

The land is classified as Grade 2 on the Agricultural Land Classification and soils are a loam over clay, recently cropped with grass leys, maize and rye.


General

Method of sale: Sand Villa Farm is offered for sale as a whole, or in up to five lots by private treaty.

Tenure: The property is sold freehold with vacant possession on completion. Subject to a lease to Sunbeam Ltd for the solar panel array on the roof of the farm buildings. This started in 2015 for a period of 20 years and provides the farm with reduced electricity bills.

Wayleaves, easements and rights of way: The property is being sold subject to and with the benefit of all rights including; rights of way, whether public or private, light, support, drainage, water and electricity supplies and other rights and obligations, easements and quasi-easements and restrictive covenants and all existing and proposed wayleaves for masts, pylons, stays, cables, drains, water and gas and other pipes whether referred to in these particulars or not.

There is one public footpath across part of the farm.

Basic Payment: There are no Basic Payment entitlements included in the sale.

Schemes: Lot 5 is entered into a Mid Tier Countryside Stewardship Agreement from 1st January 2024 until 31st December 2028. At the time of writing an application to enter the farm into a Sustainable Farming Incentive Scheme has been applied for. More information is available from the vendor’s agent. The purchaser will be deemed to have full knowledge of the scheme(s) and will take them on and comply with them from completion if necessary. The vendor will retain any payments payable up to completion.

Designations: The saltmarsh (Lot 5) is within the Morecambe Bay Ramsar Site, a wetland designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. Lot 5 is also within the Lune Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area and a Marine Conservation Zone.

Holdover & Ingoing Valuation: This may be required by the vendor, subject to the timing of completion.

Sporting, timber and mineral rights: All timber and mineral rights are included in the freehold sale, in so far as they are owned. The sporting rights across part of Lot 1, Lots 3, 4 and 5 are reserved in favour of a local wildfowling group.

Fixtures and fittings: All fixtures, fittings and equipment, including fitted carpets, curtains and farm equipment, are specifically excluded from the sale. These may be available to the purchaser by separate negotiation.

Covenants and/or restrictions: There are restrictions / covenants listed on the Land Registry Title deed, details of which will be made available by the vendors solicitors on request.

Local authority: Lancaster City Council (lancaster.gov.uk)

VAT: Any guide price quoted or discussed is exclusive of VAT. In the event that a sale of the property, or any part of it, or any right attached to it, becomes a chargeable supply for the purposes of VAT, such tax will be payable in addition.

Health and safety: Given the potential hazards of a working farm we ask you to be as vigilant as possible when making your inspection for your own personal safety, particularly around the farm buildings and machinery.

what3words: Sand Villa Farmhouse: ///brightens.senders.lengthen

Viewing: Strictly by confirmed appointment with the vendor’s agents, Strutt & Parker in Harrogate or London .

Sand Villa Farm is positioned in a coastal location in northwest Lancashire, between the county cities of Preston and Lancaster. The farm lies on flat productive land south of the River Lune in an agriculturally progressive part of the country, benefitting from Grade 2 land.

Locally, the closest villages are Cockerham, Stakepool and Pilling, all within 2.5 miles of farm and provide primary schools and community centres with Stakepool also benefitting from a pub and village shop. Garstang is the closest town (7 miles) which has a full range of amenities, supermarkets, and services, including a secondary school. There are another three secondary schools within 9 miles of the farm.

The farm is located adjacent to the A588, a coastal road offering connections to the M6 in the north and to Blackpool and the M55 in the south. Regular train services are available from Lancaster and Preston.