[Diggers350] Record number of UK farmers forced to sell-up in wake of inheritance tax raid

Wed Jul 30 02:19:29 BST 2025

Record number of UK farmers sell-up in wake of inheritance tax raid say ONS

<https://tlio.org.uk/uk-farms-going-bankrupt-sabotage/>30 
July 2025 - 
<https://tlio.org.uk/author/tony/>Tony Gosling - 
<https://tlio.org.uk/uk-farms-going-bankrupt-sabotage/#respond>Leave a comment
Record number of farms shut in wake of inheritance tax raid
Labours disastrous policies blamed as more than 6,000 businesses close

Tim Wallace Deputy Economics Editor 24 July 2025
https://archive.is/gaV0S
https://tlio.org.uk/uk-farms-going-bankrupt-sabotage/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/07/24/record-number-of-farms-shut-in-wake-of-inheritance-tax-raid/
Emacs!

A record number of farms were forced to close for 
good this year after Rachel Reevess tax raid 
made the future of thousands of rural businesses unviable.
A total of 6,365 agriculture, forestry and 
fishing businesses have closed over the past 
year, according to the Office for National 
Statistics (ONS), the highest since quarterly data was first published in 2017.
The majority of these closures took place during 
the first six months of the year after Ms Reeves, 
the Chancellor, announced in October that she 
would cut the amount of inheritance tax relief available to family farms.
Just 3,190 businesses in the sector have been set 
up over the same period. It leaves a net loss of 
3,175, indicating the number of farms is 
shrinking at the fastest pace on record.
Farms are closing faster than new ones open
Emacs!

Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment 
secretary, said the farm closures were a result 
of Labours disastrous tax policies.
She added: The crippling NICs [National 
Insurance contributions] increases, alongside the 
family farm and family firm taxes, are destroying 
generational businesses, creating job instability 
and even leading to devastating suicides.
These statistics prove that Labour do not 
understand our rural communities and our rural 
communities cannot afford Labour.
Lee Anderson, a Reform UK MP, said rising taxes 
and red tape were pushing British farming to the brink.
No government in modern history has done more 
damage to rural Britain than Labour is right now, he said.
Farms are closing at twice the rate new ones are 
opening. This is completely unsustainable. Labour 
has betrayed the industry that helped build this country.
Beaten from post to pillar
Farmers are also grappling with the soaring cost 
of fertiliser and a poor harvest following the 
recent drought and floods last year.
James Grindal, a 55-year-old third-generation 
farmer in South Leicestershire, said the poor 
weather and barrage of costs mean new farmers and 
entrepreneurs are reluctant to set up businesses in the industry.
He said: Yields are quite a bit down this year, 
it has been so dry  we have not had decent rain for four or five months.
People have been beaten from post to pillar. 
Whichever way you turn you seem unwanted.
The Government is not over-supportive of us, 
with inheritance tax relief disappearing.
Mr Grindals 84-year-old father still works on 
the farm and remains a part-owner. However, he 
warned that the Chancellors tax raid meant that 
when his father dies, the family will be unable 
to invest in the farm as planned.
Mr Grindal said: He is still actively involved 
in the farm  he still sits on tractors 
occasionally, why shouldnt he own a bit of the 
land he has worked hard to own? Out of nowhere [this tax was] dropped on us.
When he passes away we are going to have to pay 
a fair bit of tax on that. It will probably stop 
us from doing some of what we are doing.
I could understand the tax if we were going to 
sell it. But we are not, we are going to keep growing corn and feeding people.
Currently, family farms do not incur inheritance 
tax, receiving full relief on the usual 40pc 
rate. Under the changes introduced by Ms Reeves 
which take effect from April 2026, inheritance 
tax will be charged at a rate of 20pc, above a threshold of £1m.
Farmers have objected that their businesses are 
typically cash-poor and low-margin, meaning they 
will be forced to sell chunks of their land to settle the bill.
Mr Grindal said that the tax changes meant his 
teenage sons would be even more reluctant to take on the family business.
There are not many people coming new into the 
industry. Ive got two boys, 19 and 17, and I 
very much doubt they will come into farming, he said.
There is not a great deal of encouragement to 
get up at the crack of dawn and work all day and 
not get much reward for it, when they see what else they can do.
Confidence at rock-bottom
Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers 
Union, said confidence in the industry was at 
rock-bottom with farmers facing a number of challenges.
The inheritance tax rise came as another bitter 
blow and another attack, he said.
Mr Bradshaw added: It creates this continuing 
sense that the industry isnt valued and its 
worth to the country isnt being recognised.
I can understand why the psychology is there 
that people will be taking the decisions that 
they may be resigned to sell off, and they are no 
longer able to make a living off it.
Victoria Vyvyan, president of the Country Land 
and Business Association, said taxes and red tape 
were undermining farmers efforts to make ends meet.
She said: This report says what ministers wont: 
rural businesses are being pushed to the edge.
Farmers trying to modernise or diversify are 
blocked at every turn  by red tape, by National 
Insurance rises, by a government that talks 
growth while pulling out the foundations beneath it.
Still, the countryside carries on. New 
businesses are opening. People are holding on. 
But grit isnt a strategy. Whats needed now is 
simple: stability, clarity, and a government 
willing to listen  before more farms are lost 
and more families are forced out.
Michael Oakes, who sold his dairy business last 
year and now runs a beef herd in the West 
Midlands, said the rising demand for renewable 
energy was also compounding farmers woes.
He added: Youve got some landlords taking land 
out of food production to put into solar.
Farmers drove tractors into central London to 
protest changes to inheritance tax rules Credit: 
Eddie Mulholland for The Telegraph
Ms Reevess tax change, which alongside a similar 
reduction in the relief for family businesses is 
set to raise up to £520m per year for the 
Exchequer, caused immediate political ructions 
with farmers driving tractors into central London 
to protest outside Parliament.
MPs also heard emotional evidence from family 
farms about the dangers of the tax raid.
Jonathan Charlesworth, a farmer in Yorkshire, 
said his father, John, took his own life in fear of the inheritance tax raid.
Other farmers have told The Telegraph that the 
impending increase has opened a suicide window 
for elderly business owners who worry they will 
impose a financial burden on their children and 
grandchildren by staying alive beyond April of next year.
Any hopes the plans might be softened were dashed 
with the publication of the Finance Bill this 
week which confirmed the changes will come into force next year.
A Department for Environment, Food & Rural 
Affairs spokesman said: Our commitment to 
farming and food security is steadfast and 
farming profits in the UK increased by £1.6bn last year.
We are slashing costs and red tape for food 
producers to export to the EU, have appointed 
former NFU president Baroness Minette Batters to 
recommend reforms to boost farmers profits, and 
were ensuring farmers get a bigger share of food 
contracts across our schools, hospitals, and prisons.

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