We’re coming up to 6 months since the launch of Landmatch England and have been thrilled with the response we have received so far, really highlighting the appetite for a land matching service for the farming community.
In April, we sent out a feedback form to our registered users to gather early-stage feedback on our progress. We wanted to gain information on how to adapt our service to ensure we are meeting the needs of the sector wherever we can.
The feedback we have received is overwhelmingly positive, with 90% of respondents stating that the matching process and surrounding support are helping them to work towards their goals so far, with one respondent stating:
“Our facilitator has been invaluable in helping us co-ordinate our potential landmatch by helping us put in place a clear pathway for the negotiations around both parties expectations and needs. We feel the support offered has made the process of building the relationship less stressful and there is a sense that we are managing the process properly, and the best way possible for all concerned.”
Suggestions
We asked for your suggestions for future events and training, and we heard that there is a substantial need to address knowledge gaps, such as in business planning and different types of agreements. We have dates set for webinars over the next few months to address the need to tackle these issues.
There were also some really helpful suggestions that we are currently unable to meet, such as providing more staff. We’re currently in a funded year with a small staff team working part-time on the project, so please bear with us if sometimes we are longer than you may expect to respond to enquiries. We would love to bring more people into the team, but we do expect this to be a slow growth strategy and dependent on future funding and income potential.
We also recognised a useful comment requesting land agreement templates. As fans of fair and robust land agreements that are tailored to the specific situation and people within a land match, we are unable to provide template leases as this could constitute legal advice – but we can signpost you to resources and friendly professionals who can help.
Behaviour change
It was also really interesting to see what people are doing differently as a result of using the Landmatch England service. We heard from landowners who noted that they’re interested in involving their local community in food growing on their land, working more with local organisations, or changing their search criteria for a landseeker after chatting with one of the team. Landseekers also fed back on being more active in looking for funding, or amending their ideas after reviewing resources sent on by their regional coordinator.
Keep in touch
If you’re reading this after joining us on the Landmatch journey, please feel free to continue letting us know how we are doing at any time! We love hearing from you, and all feedback is gratefully received and reviewed. Your thoughts and ideas are actively used to continue to build on the service wherever we can and evidence the need for the service to our funders and decision makers.