THE Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (AMC) has simplified the way it treats applications for loans from landed estates.

Adrian Cawood, from AMC, said that applications from large diversified estates could prove challenging, especially where various enterprises fall into different policy categories, attracting a myriad of different terms and conditions.

“We’ve now been able to overhaul our offering to estate-type businesses, which often combine such varying enterprises as in-hand and let farming, let commercial and residential property, renewable energy, tourism, forestry and sporting activities,” he said.

“Where previously, the loan application may have been split across agricultural, residential, commercial and so on we will in future treat the whole business as one. This will make applications for finance simpler – and hopefully more successful.”

Charlie Forbes Adam, who runs the family-owned Escrick Park Estate near York. Winner of the 2013 RASE Bledisloe Gold Medal for outstanding land management and agricultural estate development, the estate has secured finance from AMC for a wide range of ventures over 20 years.

The estate includes commercial and residential property, events, tourism and farming and farm produce retailing.

Mr Forbes Adam said: “Before now, we have applied under a number of different banners to fund the development of this range of enterprises; now, it’s going to be a much simpler process ideally suited to the mix of enterprises we work with.”