‘I can only hope that I stay healthy for the next five years!’ Leadenham farmer says inheritance tax announced in Budget will ‘cripple’ rural businesses

Changes to inheritance tax announced in the Budget will ‘cripple’ family farms and stop them from being handed down to the next generation, a Lincolnshire farmer has warned.

Andrew Ward, 63, says his only hope is staying healthy enough to outlast the Labour government.

It was announced in yesterday’s Budget that inheritance tax relief for farms will be limited to £1m, meaning all assets passed down above that threshold will be taxed.

National Insurance contributions for employers will also rise at a time when many farms are struggling.

Andrew, who farms at Leadenham, said: “Farmers are feeling extremely let down.

“Labour clearly doesn’t understand agriculture or how family farms have survived for so long.

“I’ve got two daughters and a nephew I would like to hand my farm down to, but it can’t be done at the moment.

“I can only hope that I stay healthy for the next five years and the Conservatives are able to come back and reverse this.”

He said that while £1m is a huge amount of cash, it only amounts to a very small farm.

“That would barely get you 30 acres. I farm 1,000 acres which is about average, and many people I know are much bigger,” he said.

“It would cost us thousands of pounds per acre to hand down.

“I’m going to have to find £1m to pay the taxman if I want to pass my farm on – and farmers don’t have that sort of cash.

“The National Insurance contribution rise for employers is also crippling. More farms will undoubtedly go out of business.

“The government should be going after the really big landowners, not family farms.”

Andrew warned that his costs have risen by 44 per cent since 2019, yet farmers were still selling food for the same prices as 20 years ago.

“It makes me wonder why I’m carrying on,” he said.

“Many farms are selling up to solar companies – even though it takes away food-producing land – and I’d do that if the chance came along.”

Coun Colin Davie (Con), the portfolio holder for economic development, environment and planning at Lincolnshire County Council, described the Budget as an ‘attack on rural England and the farming community’.

Jane Bassett, NFU Midlands regional board chair, said: “We were hopeful of a new working relationship with this government to support us in producing climate friendly food here in the region.

“All this is now at stake, as many farms will be unable to have any chance of handing over to their families to continue to produce food in the region.

“While it is welcome news for Midlands farmers that support for those devastated by flooding, as promised by the previous government is finally been released this is largely the only good news from the Budget, on the back of what has been an exceptionally challenging year for the industry.

“All sectors of farmers and growers will be impacted by the Budget with rising costs and a tough winter ahead.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves (Lab) said yesterday the government was making very difficult choices to ‘fix Britain’s foundations’ and close a £22bn blackhole.

She claimed the changes would protect working people, and reforms to inheritance tax and Agricutural Business Relief would only affect the very wealthiest.