So what’s your unit worth now?

Free range farms have become an in-demand rarity on the property market.

That’s the conclusion being drawn from the price paid for an 18,000 bird unit in Dorset which sold at 10 per cent above its most optimistic guide price. Silverthorne Farm near Sherborne reached £585,000 at auction, despite the fact that the buyer still has to build a house. The price was £60,000 above the top guide price.

The property, developed by former BFREPA national council member Robin Worsley, has three sheds, each for 6,000 birds, which were erected in 1991and do not have automatic nests.

The business was said to have a potential turnover of £280,000 but is currently let to egg producers WJ Watkins at a rent of £34,737 per annum.

But what makes the price so impressive is that Silverthorne comes with no residence although it does have planning permission for a modest three-bedroom bungalow. This has been granted on the basis of an agricultural tie and a 106 Agreement which means the bungalow can never be sold separately from the land. So it had extremely limited appeal to the non-agricultural buyers who so often boost the value of farm properties.

“The rarity of free range units coming to the market is what added to the value,” said Tom Grant of Salisbury based agents Fox Grant who sold the property. “There were ten people who were very interested in buying and five of them became registered bidders at the auction.”

Mr Grant said that interest came from three areas; dairy farmers looking to move to a new sector, tenant farmers looking to buy their own property and ‘lifestyle changers’ looking for a new life in the country. All those who expressed an interest intended to pursue the free range operation.

“But I think we should sound one note of caution,” added Mr Grant. “In terms of price this really is a special case because it is beautifully located in a lovely area.

“Even so I have already had interest from other free range owners and I could have another unit coming to the market. And of course I still have four enthusiastic would-be purchasers waiting to find a property.”

Silverthorne Farm was bought by ‘lifestyle changer’ Jason Thompson who, after a career in the army with the Royal Corps of Signals, has spent the last six years involved in the lucrative business of installing mobile phone networks.

“That’s made the money to buy the farm but it is a rat-race and I want out now,” says, Jason, who has the enthusiastic support of his wife, Michelle.

They’ve both had a taste of free range by volunteering on a local farm at weekends where they tried their hand at all duties, including the worst, suspects Jason.

“At the end of it we were keener than ever,” he says, “and even a wet and cold free range farm in the middle of winter promises to be infinitely better than being stuck on the M1 at rush hour every evening.”