Buying and Selling Agricultural Property at Auction
agricultural grain field

Buying and Selling Agricultural Property at Auction

Buying Agricultural Property at Auction

The purchase of agricultural property at auction is often a swift process. However, the auction process is one that should also be met with caution. If your bid is successful, you will be required to sign the contract and pay deposit of 10% of the purchase price at the auction. You will then be contractually bound to complete your purchase on a fixed completion date, which is generally 28 days following the auction.

What should I do prior to the auction?

If you have identified a property that you wish to bid on at auction, researching this property is important. The seller will have prepared a legal pack for the property, containing the title documents, often conveyancing searches and any special conditions of sale. This pack should be reviewed in detail. Tinsdills can review this pack prior to the auction, to advise you of any potential legal issues or further enquiries and investigations that may be appropriate.

Following the review of the legal pack, if you decide that you wish to bid on the property, you should ensure that you have the appropriate finance arrangements in place, both to pay the deposit at auction and in readiness to pay the remaining balance on the completion date.

At the auction

At the auction, in addition to having available funds to pay the deposit immediately, you should be prepared to provide evidence of your identification, particularly if your bid is successful.

I was successful with my purchase at auction, what should I do now?


If you purchased a property at auction, you will then need to formally instruct a solicitor to act for you in order to complete your purchase. Tinsdills’ highly experienced agricultural property team are happy to act for you in the completion of your auction purchase.

Tinsdills will take your purchase through to completion and deal with the registration of the property at Land Registry on your behalf.

Selling Agricultural Property at Auction

The sale of agricultural property at auction is a popular choice for sellers. If your property sells at auction, the overall process is swift, with the buyer paying a deposit of 10% of the purchase price at the auction and being contractually bound to complete their purchase of the property on the fixed completion date, usually 28 days following the auction.

What should I do prior to the auction?

If you wish to sell agricultural property at auction, you will firstly need to instruct an auctioneer. The auctioneer will generally agree a guide price with you, advertise the property and enter the property into auction.

You should then instruct a solicitor to prepare an auction legal pack. This pack will be made available to interested buyers, allowing them to review key information about the property, such as title deeds, conveyancing searches and any special conditions of sale. Interested buyers may raise enquiries on the documents contained within the legal pack, which your instructed solicitor will answer.

Your solicitor will also arrange for you to sign a copy of the sale contract prior to the auction date.

Tinsdills’ agricultural property team are experienced in auction sales and are happy to act on your behalf for a sale at auction, from preparing the auction legal pack through to completion of a sale of the property.

What happens at the auction?

A member of Tinsdills will be present at the auction. If the sale of your property is successful, the buyer will pay the deposit of 10% of the purchase price, which will then be held by your solicitor until completion takes place. Contracts will be exchanged in readiness for completion to take place on the fixed completion date.

I was successful with my sale at auction, what happens now?

Tinsdills will contact the solicitors instructed to act for the buyer and provide them with a copy of the legal pack. Tinsdills will then undertake all work required to complete the sale.


Contact us
If you would like to discuss the sale or purchase of an auction property, please do not hesitate to contact Tinsdills’ highly experienced Agricultural Property department who will be happy to assist you.