Many people listened in stunned silence as the chancellor announced that Agricultural Property Relief (APR) was going to be restricted for farms with effect from 6 April 2026.
In summary, every individual and most trusts existing on Budget Day will be given a £1m band to be shared between APR and Business Property Relief (BPR) for relief at 100%. Transfers qualifying for APR or BPR over £1m will qualify for 50% relief. Assets, such as land let on tenancies created before September 1995 which currently qualify for 50% relief will continue to enjoy the 50% relief, and this will not use up any part of that 100% band. An anti-forestalling rule acts to catch gifts made from Budget Day until the changes come into effect in 2026.
This together with the the reduction in the delinked basic payments amounts felt, to many, like a knock out combination. This has many farms to question how they will face the future. For those with a Croner subscription, my article, which I started writing on bonfire night to the background sound of airborne explosions, is available here: https://library.croneri.co.uk/cch_uk/taxweekly/wkid-202411180748280722-24840444?highlight=1&algolia_queryID=692771d489c6d8a945565fe61348c02d
The changes to the delinked payments tapers is available here: https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2024/10/30/budget-2024-maintaining-momentum/