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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.
Western Morning News – 13.01.2016 – Care must be taken with agricultural property relief
Mr Osborne’s budget in the summer of 2015 implemented a staged increase in the Inheritance Tax (IHT) threshold from £325,000 to £500,000 between 2017 and 2021 via the ‘family home allowance’. This can then be doubled for married couples and civil partners. This is all very well, but what about additional agricultural assets on and…
Read MoreFarm Facts 2016
The 2016 edition of our handy pocket sized Farm Facts leaflet is now available. If you would like a free hard copy of the leaflet to be posted to you, please telephone us on 01392 823935 or email us at office@townsendcharteredsurveyors.co.uk with your postal details. Alternatively, if you would like to view or download Farm Facts 2016, please…
Read MoreWestern Morning News – 09.12.2015 – Lifting AOCs
With agricultural prices depressed again farmers are looking for means of diversification or other ways to raise additional working capital. One to consider is the lifting of an agricultural occupancy condition (AOC) applying to a farmhouse or cottage. The value of a dwelling with an AOC can in the worst case scenario be depressed by…
Read MoreWestern Morning News – 07.12.2015 – Salmon fishing on the Exe
The Southwest is blessed with a great choice of Salmon rivers and has a particularly long season, with Salmon being in season somewhere in the Southwest from February through to December, leaving a closed season of little more than six weeks in the dead of winter. Although the Cornish rivers are well known for summer…
Read MoreWestern Morning News – 18.11.2015 – Vital to keep up with new rules as they affect farms
The month of October saw a number of changes and amendments to regulations within England come into force. Home Business Tenancies Any new tenancy of a dwelling which starts after the 1st October in England and Wales which permits a ‘home business’ to be carried out in the house will be exempt from the security…
Read MoreWestern Morning News – 04.11.2015 – Methods of sale
Once you have made a decision to sell your property, be it land, a farm or just a house or cottage, one of the first things you need to decide is the method of sale that best suits your situation and your property. The most common, and the one most of us are familiar with,…
Read MoreWestern Morning News – 21.10.15 – Good timing essential if you’re selling farm
When planning for your farming future Inheritance Tax (IHT) and Capital gains Tax (CGT) should always be on the menu when speaking with your land agent, solicitor and accountant. Do you consider selling the farm sooner or later, which may well incur a CGT liability at the point of disposal, or do you keep hold…
Read More08.10.2015 – ENTITLEMENT TRADING UPDATE – AUTUMN 2015 – TRADE BEGINS
The entitlement market has already kicked off this season. Many landlords, tenants and their agents have recently been negotiating end of tenancy arrangements, and entitlements have of course been in discussion. In England the oversupply of Non-SDA seen last season should now have gone as surplus unused entitlements have reverted to the National Reserve meaning…
Read MoreWestern Morning News – 30.09.15 – Is share farming an option for you?
Share Farming has recently been championed by the CLA as a structure which could be used to overcome many of the challenges the agricultural industry currently faces. A new share farming promotion has been launched with the intention of helping young farmers across the UK to ‘get their first foot on the farming ladder.’ …
Read MoreAutumn 2015 Newsletter
Where are we heading? With yields up and prices down there are mixed opinions as to where the agricultural sector is heading. Lamb and milk prices remain low, as do grains (which has been partially attributed to the slowdown in the Chinese economy), although beef has shown marginal signs of improvement recently. The Sterling/Euro exchange…
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