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.

25.4.22 – Farmers Weekly – Brokers short of English non-SDA BPS entitlements

Demand is outstripping supply for English Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) entitlements, with non-severely disadvantaged area (non-SDA) entitlements consistently selling for about £200/unit. There are now just three full weeks left before the entitlement trading window closes in England on 16 May and demand is strong. Hugh Townsend, of Townsend Chartered Surveyors, said prices were changing…

14.4.22 – Farmers Weekly – Farmers need answers before deciding on Lump Sum Scheme

The Lump Sum Exit Scheme is open for applications, but advisers warn that key questions need to be answered by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) before the closure of the 2022 entitlement trading window on 16 May. Application forms for the scheme, designed to allow farmers to leave the industry in a managed way with…

13.4.22 – Western Morning News – The Final Death Knell of the Headage Payments in the New Forest

You might recall that in October last year, some activists climbed up the side of a building to protest against subsidised meat production, back when current affairs still allowed our media the space to cover such things. Clearly these people had not actually been paying a great deal of attention to historic agricultural policy, because…

6.4.22 – Western Morning News – Retirement Lump Sum – Fine Detail

As the dust settles on the RPA’s announcement on the specifics of the Lump Sum Exit Scheme, and with the regulations underpinning it now released this week, we have noted a few matters of specific detail that may become critical in how these schemes are handled: Entitlements and the Retirement Lump Sum cap This is one…

23.3.22 – Western Morning News – BPS 2022: Townsend Top Tips

“That time of year” has arrived once again. Most readers will only have one BPS claim to submit for the year, if any. We, by our nature, have rather more than that. For some weeks we hear the DEFRA hold music in our sleep and dream about RLE1 forms. Whatever the long-term psychological effects of…

16.3.22 – Western Morning News – Faultless land ‘mapping’ is key

The BPS is a payment for either actively farming land or maintaining it in a condition suitable for farming. The payment is calculated based on the number of hectares of land on which the claim is made. The process for claiming is as below: Step 1: Register with the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) The Rural…

15.3.2022 – Farmers Weekly – BPS entitlement values higher than in 2021

Brokers are reporting prices for non-severely disadvantaged area (SDA) basic payment entitlements are currently ranging from £150 to £200/unit. Hugh Townsend, of Townsend Chartered Surveyors, said prices were higher than at the same point in 2021, with deals for non-SDA entitlements in England being struck at £160 to £200/unit plus VAT, depending on lot size……

9.3.2022 – Western Morning News – Countryside Stewardship Window Open – Why would you not claim?

As in previous years, Countryside Stewardship (CS) offers a selection of payments to landowners or tenants for carrying out actions viewed as environmentally beneficial. This includes ongoing annual payments for “options”, such as maintaining wildflower margins or taking areas out of production, and for one-time “capital items” such as hedge laying and new covers for…

17.2.22 – Farmers Weekly – Lump sum and delinking raise tax and timing questions

The tax and timing considerations for the Lump Sum Exit scheme and Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) delinking announcements need careful consideration and more information is needed from Defra, say advisers. Comments from Hugh Townsend see article here

16.2.2022 – Western Morning News – Lump sum exit payments will require careful consideration

Details have now been announced of the Lump Sum Exit Scheme (aka the “Retirement Lump Sum”), and the Delinkage payment. Retirement Lump Sum Exit Scheme In a nutshell, this scheme offers a payment of up to £99,875 to farmers surrendering control of their farm businesses. The value of the payment will be calculated from a…