An overgrown half-acre "patch of nettles" which sold for £96,000 proves the huge variability of prices in Norfolk's record-breaking farmland market, said agents.

During Brown and Co's spring seminar at Holt Rugby Club, farmers heard that average land prices had been rising steadily from just over £4,000 per acre in 2006 to more than £10,000 last year.

But since 2015 a key market characteristic has been variability, with prices typically ranging from £7,000 to £14,000 per acre.

Anne Barker​, a partner in the firm's Norwich land agency team, highlighted some "powerful examples", including one plot which was bought and re-sold in 2022 and made 35pc more at the end of the year than at the beginning.

But the most extreme case was a parcel of land measuring just under half an acre in Salthouse, on the north Norfolk coast. It sold for a staggering £96,000 at an online auction in summer 2021, outstripping its guide price of £5,000-£10,000.

Eastern Daily Press: Anne Barker​ is a partner in the Norwich land agency team at Brown and Co - Picture: Brown and CoAnne Barker​ is a partner in the Norwich land agency team at Brown and Co - Picture: Brown and Co (Image: Brown and Co)

"There was no development potential there, it was a patch of nettles," she said.

"But it was at a time in the market, post-lockdown, when everybody wanted their own part of England, and bidders went crazy for it."

Supply and demand are key factors, with the 15-year average of 140,000 acres sold per year dropping to 60,000 acres in 2020 and 2021, followed by 80,000 in 2022.

High demand is also being driven by the inheritance tax advantages of owning farmland, along with a significant number of "rollover buyers" keen to invest cash made in other industries.

"With all the uncertainties around Brexit, Ukraine and food security, land feels like a safe place to have money," she said.

"That is why we will keep seeing these outside investors coming in."

Other potential buyers are spotting opportunities for renewable energy or "biodiversity net gain" trade-offs, creating a situation where "lots of people are fighting over a limited resource."

Eastern Daily Press: A half-acre parcel of overgrown land at Salthouse fetched £96,000 at an online auction in summer 2021 - Picture: Brown and CoA half-acre parcel of overgrown land at Salthouse fetched £96,000 at an online auction in summer 2021 - Picture: Brown and Co (Image: Brown and Co)