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Farming Today: 26/10/2011

26/10/2011

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 26/10/2011

Anna Hill asks why investors are swapping bricks and mortar for blades of grass.

As investors from the UK and across the world snap up British farmland, Anna Hill ask why fields are the current hot property.

Investors are swapping bricks and mortar for their own piece of the countryside. It is thought that alongside farmers who want to expand, pension funds and foreign companies are also buying up the fields and pastures across the UK. It is predicted that the value of land could increase by up to 12% by next year. Anna Hill talks to an auctioneer to hear how land is bought and sold through closed secret bids. Simon Rubinsohn from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors explains why farmland is the new hot property. 

The area covered by the UK's 15 National Parks has grown by 3,000 square miles in the past decade. There is a delicate balance being struck in the parks to secure the magnificent views whilst still providing amenities to those who live and work there. Moira Hickey visits the Cairngorms National Park to see how the march of the pylons has been halted in one area. 

Presenter: Anna Hill; Producer Angela Frain.

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