Farmers and foresters may not be in the same boat but they are in the same storm, said forestry experts at the launch of the UK Forest Market Report 2025.
Communication and collaboration on land use were key as forestry and farming faced “common uncertainties” including government policy, product prices and cost inflation, said The UK Forest Market Report 2025, produced by BSW Group’s Tilhill Forestry and Goldcrest Land & Forestry Group.
The report, which showed a 50% uplift in commercial forestry listings in the past year, was launched in Edinburgh on 18th November and London on 19th November. The annual publication is considered the most comprehensive overview of the UK forestry sector, detailing key financial trends, regional insights and analysis of the timber and natural capital markets.
This year, the report called on “forestry to support farming and farming to support forestry” and for the two sectors to work together to sustain the communities, landscapes and livelihoods that depend on them.
Xander Mahony, head of forestry investment for Tilhill Forestry, said: “Forestry and farming have often been slightly uncomfortable bedfellows in the rural space. Today, there are perhaps more pressing shared challenges than the relatively minor skirmishes between us.”
The Data
The total value of the commercial forestry market was £140million*. This is lower than the listings from 2020 to 2023 which reached approx. £200m each year, but higher than in the years preceding the pandemic and 50% higher than 2024.
A total of 9,200ha were listed on the market, 70% up on 2024 with just four listings accounting for half of the total area. The average price per stocked hectare was £19,200, up 3%.
Mr Mahony noted in the report that two exceptionally large landholdings – Griffin in Perthshire at 4,000ha and the Caledonian Portfolio numbering 15 forests extending to more than 2,000ha across Scotland – would drown out every other transaction “akin to counting Buckingham Palace as part of the London housing market” and show a false pricing lift. “This is not the reality we have observed,” he said. Therefore, these two properties have been excluded from the pricing data in order to provide a more realistic picture of the market. For reference, the next largest property was in the hundreds of hectares.
Mixed woodland listings were subdued, down 40% to just £11m. Properties were about 20% smaller than in recent years with an average value of £380k and an average size of 30ha. The value rose 3% to £16,200/ha in England, 6% to £13,700/ha in Wales and 16% to £10,200/ha in Scotland.
Sales of land with commercial forestry planting potential were relatively scarce. In Scotland, the price continued to fall and ranged from £7,000 to £11,000/ha. Values in England (£15,000/ha) and Wales (£15,000 to £16,000/ha) were stable, partly due to higher land grades being sold for planting south of the border.
The Market
Jon Lambert, partner at Goldcrest Land & Forestry Group, said: “The commercial forestry market is evolving. 2025 was marked by a shift in the age of forests coming to the market, caution among buyers and variations in sale success.”
He said many more young crops changed hands this year, often where original planting sites had been harvested and restocked. Some sites comprised trees less than 10 years old, the result of woodland creation schemes and some offering carbon credits.
The market was characterised by ”caution and selectiveness” which “has moulded an unusual collection of sale results”, he said. “Generally, the overriding market theme is one of variation. Some properties sold competitively, generating high prices; others, which we would consider comparable, have stuck on the market and not sold.”
He emphasised that forestry, like any property, was a long-term game and remained a “strongly performing investment asset class”.
Collaboration on Land Use
Writing in the report, Rebecca Wilson, a fifth generation farmer named in the Sunday Times Young Power List 2025, said: “The UK is not a large country, yet our land is being asked to do more and more. We need it for food production, trees, housing, renewable energy, biodiversity, and carbon storage.”
She stressed the need for clear communication and respect for the deep-rooted emotional connection farmers have to the landscape.
“Farming and forestry both have a role to play in tackling climate change, delivering biodiversity, and supporting rural economies. The danger lies in treating them as competing land uses, when in reality there is an opportunity for them to complement each other.
“Both sectors are long-term stewards of land, tied in with climate, nature, and rural economies. If they work against each other, opportunities will be lost. If they work together, the benefits could be substantial.
“The future of land use in the UK will be defined not by choosing between trees and food, but by finding ways to integrate them.”