Has Rachel Reeves killed the family farm?

As the post-Budget scrutiny gets underway, there is one group of obvious losers from today’s statement: farmers. The rural community is up in arms about Rachel Reeves’ changes to tax relief on farmland. From April 2026 this will be capped at 50 per cent for assets over £1 million – which works out at around roughly 67 acres. The average UK farm size is 217 acres, meaning the vast majority of ordinary family farms will now have to pay inheritance tax. Farms with amenity value or higher local land prices – such as those in the South of England – will be particularly impacted.

Rural MPs from across the House are already starting to receive correspondence from farming constituents, fearful and angry about the consequences of this change. One Tory with a big rural presence warns that ‘it will single-handedly kill the family farm’. Another says that some constituents have got in touch to say they ‘will have to now consider selling up’.