46 | Feature: UK Forest Market Report 2024
ABOUT THE FOREST MARKET REPORT
The launch of the UK Forest Market Report also included presentations from Stuart Pearson, business development director at Tilhill Forestry, who spoke on the subject of silviculture for resilient forests; and Dr David Edwards, research impact co-ordinator at Forest Research, who spoke about diversifying the palette of productive species. The FMR itself includes articles by Harry Stevens, forestry director at the BSW Group,
reflecting on the standing timber market; Oliver Thompson, charted forestry agent at Goldcrest Land & Forestry Group, looking at mixed woodlands in England, Scotland and Wales; Jay Li Sanderson, forestry investment adviser at Tilhill Forestry, on natural capital; and David McCulloch, head of CarbonStore, on the market for woodland carbon. ■
The report can be downloaded from either Tilhill or Goldcrest:
•
https://www.tilhill.com/resource-hub/publications/the-uk-forest-market-report •
https://goldcrestlfg.com/the-uk-forest-market-report-2024/ Left: The FMR was jointly produced by Goldcrest and Tilhill
◄ continues to be a challenge, but expanding woodland cover is a worthy goal”. In his analysis of the market in 2024 at the launch event and in the report itself, Jon Lambert noted that “there is no shortage of cash out there in the system” but that purchasers had been selective and cautious. “Perhaps mindful of the bull run that
peaked in the spring of 2022, investors’ enthusiasm cooled in 2023 and 2024 has been similar,” he said. Some potential purchasers were less decisive and decided to “sit on their hands” and the number of overall enquiries was down. “However,” he added, “during the second half of August, September and early October
as we approached the Budget, we completed on a large number of transactions as speculation from accounting commentators rose. It was a busy period.
“With a new Labour government and concerns of a potential large scale tax grab budget, it’s not surprising that some purchasers were holding back a little,” said Mr Lambert. “This was certainly the case with some ESG (environmental, social and governance) buyers, where capital might have been the reason for holding back, rather than political reasons.” Analysing the market further, Mr Lambert drew attention to some fundamentals, such as the Bank of England base rate settling at around the 5% mark.
“Some investors appeared happy to sit on cash but others admit this is not the best home [for it] from a tax perspective and see a land-based investment with the real physical growth of trees of 5-6% per year over the life of the crop to be a good start,” he said. “Combined with a strong expectation that timber prices will increase, potentially substantially in the short- to medium-term, we’ve definitely seen a mature market buying forest assets that are focused on growing timber – a global commodity in short supply, with taxation incentives being less of a driver. There is no doubt about it – here in the UK we grow extremely high-quality timber in a short period, compared to many other producers.”
Above: Data suggests consolidation and stabilisation have characterised the market for woodland carbon in 2024 TTJ | January/February 2025 |
www.ttjonline.com
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