News - Townsend Chartered Surveyors

For over 38 years, Hugh Townsend has been the country's "go-to" commentator on farm quotas and intangible assets sold off-farm. Having become the country's leading and most innovative quota agent he was broadcast to 3.8 million listeners on Radio 4's PM programme, interviewed by Eddie Mayer on the 1st April 2015 – the “Dawning of Europe without Milk Quotas”, click here.In 2016, BBC1 interviewed Hugh Townsend on the future of farming following the Referendum, click here. In 2021 he published the first book of its type “the UK Environmental Credits User Guide” , and more recently in 2024 ITV filmed at one of our BNG Habitat Banks which was broadcast on Monday 3rd June (click here) To view the uncut footage of the interview click here

Hugh Townsend developed the most creative arrangements to promote an efficient market in farm quotas, in the early eighties, including leasing milk quota without land, before the Milk Marketing Board introduced leasing for a part of the milk year. He has represented clients in leading court and arbitration cases successfully defending transfers of milk quota, and developed the new system of second TQ1 forms protecting the transfer of quotas with land.

In 1991, Farmers Weekly published the first sale price index from Hugh Townsend, countrywide, and started to publish farm quota sales and leasing graphs, which can be seen on our Milk Quota & Entitlements pages. Prices for intangible assets are still published weekly from this UK leading Brokerage House.

On BBC television, he has defended dairy farmers who have been taken advantage of by unscrupulous individuals in the farm quota market, and was again on television to comment on the "footballers buy milk quota" rumpus.

In 1990, the firm held the first auction of sheep and beef quota making the market in these new intangible assets and is still the leading BPS entitlement broker in the UK regions following England abolishing their scheme in 2023.

The firm also now sells Biodiversity Net Gain and Nutrient Neutrality units, Woodland and Peatland Carbon, in addition to Water Abstraction Licenses, and holds National Sales by tender every six weeks.

30TH MARCH – AGENT/FARM CONSULTANT UK 2017 BPS ENTITLEMENT UPDATE

Contents 1. RPA to fix transfer confirmation message problems today 2. Agent Conflict of Interest with Transfers between clients of the same firm 3. RICS Rules of Conduct 4. Links 1. RPA to fix transfer confirmation message problems today As reported previously, problems have been identified with the RPA messaging system which is confirming transfers that…

Farmers Weekly – 24.03.17 – RPA computer glitches hinder online trading – COMMENT

Online glitches with the Rural Payments Agency’s (RPA) computer have caused one entitlement trader to put on hold paying out vendors, for fear the system is getting it wrong. Click here to download/view the full article

Western Morning News – 22.03.17 – Latest from the entitlement market

England Non-SDA Since January, trading activity has remained at a low level with prices dipping as low as £170 per hectare. Trade has however picked up in the last couple of weeks with prices rising since the RPA online transfer system has gone live, together with 2017 claims. It is still too early to tell…

FARM FACTS 2017

Download/view our handy pocket sized guide to farming information here

Entitlement trading news – latest update 15.03.17

Contents 1. England – transferring entitlements online – not yet secure 2. UK Entitlements Market 3. UK BPS Entitlements – User Guide 4. Links 1. England – transferring entitlements online – not yet secure We have found serious problems with the online entitlements…

Farmers Weekly – 14.03.17 – English lowland entitlements trading for less than in 2016 – COMMENT

Townsend Chartered Surveyors comment. To download/view article click here

Western Morning News – 01.02.2017 – Using an agent for 2017 BPS claim

The RPA has recently confirmed that 93% of 2016 BPS claimants have been paid their Basic Payment Scheme payment. This figure surpasses the target of 91%, which was set before the payment window opened in December 2016. With large sums of money being paid out to farmers it is important to focus on the remaining…

Western Morning News – 11.01.16 – Exciting times ahead in agriculture…

It is difficult to comment on the land market, entitlement market or anything else without referring to Brexit. For me personally the Referendum became a frustratingly boring debate with extreme claims made by either side trying to scare the electorate, or sell a vision of something better. Now however it could become one of the…

Christmas 2016 newsletter

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Western Morning News – 21.12.16 – Common land rights and BPS claims

We are now seeing an increase in BPS claimants, who have handled their own claims to date, asking us to help them with the RPA over their still unresolved 2015 claims. The fear is that once another year’s payment is made it will become increasingly difficult to “unpick” errors in the RPA computer systems. Now…