Farm near Haverhill hits market with price tag of £2.8m

Simms Farm in Simms Lane, Kedington, near Clare, lies 21 miles from Cambridge and includes a Victorian farmhouse, farm cottage and 161 acres. 

It is being offered freehold with a price tag of £2.8m.

Agents Cheffins - which described it as "a lovely farm" - said the sale represented "an increasingly rare opportunity to purchase a traditional residential farm predominantly contained within a ring-fenced block".

Simms Farm comes with a Victorian farmhouse, farm cottage, 161 acres of arable land, woodland and a range of farm buildings.

It sits on an elevated spot and includes grade 2 arable land, fenced pasture, mature woodland and a range of farm buildings.

Cheffins joint managing partner Simon Gooderham said: “Simms Farm is coming to the market for the first time since the 1920s and offers an unusual opportunity to buy a traditional Suffolk farm, in a great location, with a good balance of residential to land value.

"The farm buildings, cottage and woodland make this a varied and interesting purchase, at an affordable size, perfect for lifestyle buyers or those looking to generate different income streams from development or diversification projects.

"The farm is offered without an overage clause, which is quite unusual and should also be an attractive factor for buyers.”

Its location is described as "a quiet yet accessible area of West Suffolk".

The farm buildings provide scope for a range of alternative uses - subject to planning, said Cheffins.

One of the period barns was previously granted planning permission for residential conversion in 2011.

The arable land has been farmed by the same local contractors for more than 20 years on a Contract Farming Agreement. They have expressed an interest in continuing to farm the land for the new owner.

The 2,734 sq ft main farmhouse is a detached four-bedroomed solid brick home dating back to around 1840 and retains a number of original features.

Domestic outbuildings include a farm office, generator shed, garden store and former poultry shed.

Whyberries Cottage is set away from the main farmhouse and buildings and standing within its own plot with views of the surround countryside. It measures about 950sq ft.

The arable land extends to 139 acres and is situated either side of Simms Lane.

The land is classified as Grade 2 and is of the Hanslope soil series of slowly permeable calcareous clayey soils. The land is farmed on a rotation of combinable crops including winter wheat and gluten free spring oats.

It is surrounded by hedgerows and ditches with a five-acre ancient woodland known as Jollys Wood.

The paddocks are connected to mains water and have been regularly cut for forage production.

There is a further 5.28 acre grass field on the edge of the village of Kedington next to the road and a public footpath running along the eastern boundary.