Maximising sales potential for prestige rural property

The owners of an outstanding sporting estate in Northumberland approached us to ask for our help in selling the diverse property. In addition to a 19th century 14 bedroomed Grade II listed hall, complete with its own ballroom, and six cottages, the proposed sale included 250 acres of agricultural land and woodland as well as fishing rights on one of the best salmon rivers in England.

We had to find practical solutions to the numerous challenges to the marketing of such a diverse property. These included the reservation of certain rights by the owner, the presence of asbestos, sale of chattels and the fact that there were a number of interrelated transactions, which all needed to fall into place in the correct sequence.

We advised our client to divide the estate into lots to maximise the market appeal and eventual sale price. We also looked at potential development opportunities and the option of selling some land off as extensions to gardens. As part of the due diligence process we needed to rectify some planning issues and also iron out potential problems with historic changes that had been made to the hall, which meant that some aspects of the Grade II listing had been breached.

Ultimately, we sold the estate in ten separate transactions for £5.8 million, having secured vacant possession of the residential properties, as required by the eventual buyer. The demands of the whole complex, multi-faceted transaction were many and varied. The Forge team, with its range of different negotiating skills and areas of technical expertise, was ideally placed to rise to the challenge and meet and exceed the expectations of our client.