The Rural Estate
The rural estate comprises the agricultural, mineral and forestry estates in England, Scotland & Wales, as well as residential and commercial property.
At approximately 146,000 hectares (360,000 acres) the estate is one of the largest in the UK and is made up from the following constituents:
- Agricultural estates – approximately 108,000 hectares (267,000 acres) which are made up of 780 tenancies across 450 principle farm holdings.
- Forestry estates (excluding Windsor) – nearly 11,000 hectares (27,000 acres) – of which just over 4,000 hectares (9,900 acres) is let to the Forestry Commission.
- Residential – 770 residential tenancies, mainly former farm cottages and farmhouses, let on a fair rent or assured shorthold basis.
- Welsh Commons – 26,885 hectares (66,435 acres).
- Mineral estate – The Crown Estate inland mineral rights cover some 115,473 hectares (285,341 acres). The large majority of this is not worked for minerals. Active mineral production includes 34 lettings extracting sand, gravel, limestone, granite, brick clay, coal, slate, dimension stone including Portland Stone and waste disposal.
- Mines Royal (gold and silver) – there are five Mines Royal production leases, including one gold mine in Northern Ireland now producing gold, 22 Mines Royal exploration licences with eleven more being processed.
- Salmon fishing rights in Scotland – this includes 140 tenancies of which around 60 are let to local communities through angling associations.
Financial 2008/09
During 2008/09 the rural estate enjoyed a positive year, despite the poor conditions in the UK economy, and reported growth in both revenue and property value during the year.
In 2008/09 gross surplus for the estate was £19.7 million, up 25.7% on the previous year. The property value of the estate, comprising some 780 agricultural tenancies as well as 770 residential tenancies, forestry and natural mineral resources, was £919.5 million, an increase of 1.9% over 2007/08.
For further financial information on the estate, please visit the rural section of our financial report:
Management
We have environmental plans for each of our major estates, targeting specific measures to sustain and enhance important habitats and encourage biodiversity. We are conducting a review of all these plans in order to provide biodiversity action plans for each estate with up-to-date environmental information and encouraging farmers to enter stewardship schemes.
We offer open access to 27,000 hectares (67,700 acres) of land, in addition to some 800 kilometres (500 miles) of public footpaths and bridleways. Efforts are now being focused on the development of new permitted access routes in appropriate areas, supplementing a number of new arrangements in our woodlands.
Building on a theme of best practice we introduced the rural estate awards to reward a holistic approach to business through integrating competitive business practices with environmental responsibilities and social contribution to the local community. These awards have now been expanded across the organisation to become The Crown Estate business awards.
The rural estate also awards an annual scholarship to the Oxford Farming Conference and sponsors a Nuffield Scholarship. These scholarships are awarded to a Crown Estate tenant, or a son or daughter of a tenant, who may take over the tenancy of the farm holding, to help develop their farm business and benefit potential successors to the business.
For 2009/2010 we shall, amongst many other initiatives, be developing the following:
- a ‘management deal’ between The Crown Estate and its suppliers to compliment the ‘business deal’ we have already developed between us and our tenants
- defining and implementing a new ‘Crown Estate quality standard’ for our residential properties, initially focused to ensure high levels of energy efficiency
- a structured audit of diversification opportunities across all our estates
- introduce a policy framework for renewable energy
- a forest carbon offset scheme for the Regent Street Christmas lights
- branding across our rural estates
- exemplar schemes delivering high quality sustainable development.
Further Information
 Forestry Stewardship Council
Nuffield Scholarship
Oxford Farming Conference
|
