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The land, the documents and what you are trying to do.
High Peak · Agricultural holding company
1986 or 1995?
1986 or 1995?
It decideseverything.
Land let under the Agricultural Holdings Act carries lifetime security and succession through two generations. A farm business tenancy under the 1995 Act carries neither. Same field, same soil, materially different value. We establish which one applies first.
- 2018formed in
- 1986or 1995
- 2successions
- Holdingnot farming
What we do
Four things, one statute first
Which Act a tenancy sits under is established before anything is said about value, succession or plans.
Holding and oversight
Holding agricultural interests and overseeing the businesses that farm them.
See the programTenancy review
Establishing which statute governs a tenancy, and what follows from that.
See the programSuccession and continuity
Understanding where succession rights exist, and where people assume they do.
See the programStructure and advisers
Keeping the group structure coherent and the right professionals in the room.
See the program
How it works
How we work
Read the documents before forming a view, establish which statute governs each tenancy, keep the holding company separate from the businesses that farm, and send every legal, tax and valuation question to the professional qualified to answer it.
Documents read properly
What exists, rather than what is understood.
The regime established
1986 Act, 1995 Act, or something else entirely.
Advisers brought in
Solicitor, tax adviser and rural surveyor as needed.
Working together
Ways to work with us
Quoted per piece of work in pounds sterling after a first conversation. Legal, tax and valuation work is carried out by the relevant professional and billed by them.
A land review
One holding, its documents, and which regime governs it.
- Documents read in full
- Tenancy regime established
- Succession position set out
- Ambiguity flagged, not hidden
- Written summary
Ongoing oversight
Group-level oversight for agricultural interests.
- Holding kept separate from operations
- Records current and findable
- Structure reviewed as things change
- Advisers coordinated
- One point of contact
What we will not do
Said first, because the wrong answer here is costly.
- No legal advice
- No tax advice
- No formal valuations
- No care services of any kind
- No outcome promised at tribunal
Every engagement is quoted after a free consultation. No subscription.
How we work
A holding company, not a farm
TERRA CARE LTD was incorporated in England and Wales on 12 February 2018 under company number 11199415, with its registered office at 141 Market Street, Chapel-en-le-Frith in the High Peak, and it has had the same director since the day it was formed. The registered activity is that of an agricultural holding company.
We hold and oversee rather than farm, and that separation is deliberate: the operating businesses carry the contracts, the staff, the stock, the scheme entitlements and the liability that comes with working land. Meanwhile the phrase agricultural holding does two different jobs in this country, and conflating them costs families a great deal. It describes a holding company like this one, and it separately describes tenanted farmland governed by the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986. Which statute a tenancy sits under decides almost everything about it. A 1986 Act tenancy generally brings lifetime security and statutory succession through up to two generations, tested for eligibility and suitability before a tribunal. A farm business tenancy under the 1995 Act brings neither, and simply ends on notice. The same field is worth materially different sums depending on which applies. So that is the first thing we establish, and every legal, tax and valuation question that follows goes to the solicitor, tax adviser or rural surveyor qualified to answer it. We are not a care provider of any kind, despite the name.
Frequently asked
The questions we get most
Your name says Care. Do you provide care services?
No. Despite the name, this company does not provide, arrange or manage personal care, domiciliary care, nursing or any regulated health or social care activity, and it holds no registration with the Care Quality Commission or any equivalent regulator. Its registered activity is that of an agricultural holding company. If you are looking for care services, this is not the right company and we would rather say so plainly at the top of the page.
What is the difference between the 1986 Act and the 1995 Act?
Broadly, the date the tenancy was granted. A tenancy under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986, generally granted before September 1995, carries security of tenure for the tenant's lifetime and statutory succession rights for up to two successions. A farm business tenancy under the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 carries no security beyond its term and no succession rights, ending on notice of twelve to twenty-four months where the term is over two years. It is the single biggest fact about any let holding.
Why does the tenancy type affect what land is worth?
Because it decides when, if ever, you get the land back. Land subject to a 1986 Act tenancy is commonly worth materially less than the same land with vacant possession, since a buyer is acquiring an income stream with a tenant who may have decades of security and successors behind them. Anyone valuing agricultural land without first establishing the regime is valuing something they have not identified.
My family has always assumed the farm will pass to the next generation. Is that right?
It might be, and it is worth checking rather than assuming. Succession under the 1986 Act is not automatic: eligibility and suitability have to be established before a tribunal, the number of successions is limited, and under a farm business tenancy there is no succession right at all. Families plan for years around a right that turns out not to exist, and the moment they discover it is usually a bereavement. Checking costs very little by comparison.
Can you advise on inheritance tax on the farm?
No, and you should be wary of anyone in our position who says they can. The reliefs on agricultural and business property changed in April 2026 and the detail of how they apply to a particular holding is a question for a chartered tax adviser. There is also a structural point worth raising with them: reliefs of the business property kind depend on a business not consisting wholly or mainly of holding investments, and letting land is ordinarily investment while farming in hand is ordinarily trading.
Do you buy land, or farm it yourself?
We are a holding company. We hold and oversee agricultural interests, and the farming is done by the operating businesses. We do not offer farming, contracting or land management services to third parties, and we are not an investment firm, do not manage money for anyone else and hold no authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority. If you want to discuss a holding, the conversation is free and you will get a straight answer about whether we are the right people.
Got land, and not sure what governs it?
A free first conversation, with no obligation.