By Katie Hunter, chartered surveyor, H&H Land & Estates:

HAPPY New Year to all!

I know that’s a phrase that a lot of people seem to resent this year. With everything going on, I have tried to remain positive and was very pleased that we were all able to start the year with a trade deal having been agreed.

Personally, I have cherished this Christmas break. Normally it is filled with back-to-back social occasions. However, this festive season we were given a year off the social pressures of agreeing to see every friendship group, social club gathering and carol concert - which nearly always transforms me into a Christmas pudding myself!

Instead, this break brought with it the chance for a semi-relaxed time spent amongst the animals and in the snow. This did also unfortunately mean a lot of time was spent defrosting pipes and water buckets to keep everyone content! Luckily for us on the farm at Dent, the snow hasn’t been too bad, and we haven’t had to deplete our summer harvest of hay. For those farming higher up in the Dales, however, this will most certainly be a concern.

At home on the farm, the tension is building as next week we are due to scan our sheep. Scanning day is always a key date in our calendar. It reveals just how disastrous our tupping season potentially proved, and how this will affect us and the bank balance until next year.

In the office (or rather out of it at the moment) it is very much business as usual, with new instructions coming into the office every week. As is expected at this time of year, the land sales work slows down till spring. However, land that is still available for sale from last year is seeing a high level of interest.

As I write this we are only in the second week of the new year, and I have already had many (Zoom) meetings, with exciting developments for the charities I assist and with private estate owners. It is encouraging that land owners, farmers and rural businesses are now looking to and planning for the future, and are therefore keen to discuss the implication of the new Environmental Land Management scheme.

Despite the current restrictions, various acquiring authorities are pushing ahead to ensure projected developments and schemes still continue to move forward. This has led me to see new instructions for compensation work come to fruition since December.

Finally, once again I would like to wish you all the very best for 2021, and for the rest of this third lockdown. Let’s hope this year brings with it fewer challenges and stresses: good news concerning Brexit, positive developments on all things Covid, and a chance to catch up with our family and friends once more.