Prince William gives Duchy tenants six month ultimatum to buy homes or be forced out

Prince William is selling the 3,000-acre Bradninch Estate in Devon as part of a sweeping restructuring of the Duchy of Cornwall, leaving tenant farmers and residents with six months to buy the homes and farms they occupy or risk losing them. The Duchy says the disposals will fund long-term investment in housing, nature and climate priorities; tenants say the process is coercive, unaffordable and a break with a landlord tradition that once offered near-lifetime security.

A historic estate on the block

Bradninch, near Cullompton in Mid Devon, has been part of the Duchy of Cornwall for centuries. Its proposed sale affects nine tenant farmers and a similar number of residential tenants, many of whom expected long-term occupancy and, in some cases, have worked the land for generations.

The disposal forms part of a wider plan to sell roughly one-fifth of the Duchy’s land over the next decade and redeploy about £500m into housing and environmental projects. The Duchy’s stated aim is to shift from simply holding land towards investments that deliver “the greatest long-term benefit” for communities, farming, nature and the local economy.

Buy or leave

Last month, tenants received notices described as possession orders, giving them six months to purchase their properties or vacate. Several told The Observer they had assumed they could remain for life and now fear homelessness or the collapse of viable farm businesses.

The Duchy says it is offering every tenant first refusal, with discounts of 10–20% reflecting length of tenure and investment in the property. It is also contributing to legal and professional costs and says it is taking specialist advice on how tenant improvements should be reflected in valuations.

Eight of the nine farming tenants are exploring purchases of some or all of their holdings, while around two-thirds of residential tenants are considering buying. But affordability remains the central issue: some families say they cannot raise a deposit in six months, while farmers argue that improvements they funded themselves have inflated the price they are being asked to pay.

The valuation dispute

Tenants allege that Duchy valuations are, on average, about 30% above market levels, even after discounts. They also object that money spent improving farms and homes is being capitalised into the sale price — a form of “double-charging”, in their view, even though the legal protections applying to residential leaseholders do not necessarily extend to agricultural holdings.

The Duchy disputes the characterisation, saying discounts and professional support are designed to reflect tenants’ circumstances. Kensington Palace said every tenant is receiving individual guidance, access to independent welfare and mental-health support, and continued discussions about the most suitable outcome.

Royal income, public scrutiny

The Duchy of Cornwall is a vast hereditary estate established to finance the heir to the throne. It generated about £23m a year for William, who became Duke of Cornwall on Charles III’s accession in 2022. Its portfolio spans 23 counties and includes major commercial and rural assets, making its management a matter of both private wealth and public interest.

Crucially, the Duchy says William is not entitled to access its capital. Proceeds from asset sales must, by law, be reinvested in the estate rather than used for his personal benefit. That distinction matters: the controversy is less about William personally pocketing cash than about how a centuries-old institution balances asset sales, tenant security and its social mission.

A test of the Duchy’s purpose

Supporters of the sale argue that releasing capital from low-yielding rural land can finance more socially useful investment, including affordable housing and environmental restoration. The Duchy’s chief executive, Will Bax, has framed the strategy as ensuring the estate has a positive impact rather than existing merely to own land.

Critics see a sharper contradiction. William has made homelessness and mental health central public themes, yet tenants in Bradninch say the sale could make families homeless and damage the mental health of people whose livelihoods depend on the estate. One resident, Mary Ryan, highlighted that irony in comments reported by The Observer.

The Tenant Farmers Association has welcomed the offer of first refusal but warned that tenants unable or unwilling to buy face major upheaval, particularly where long-term Duchy tenancies underpinned their business plans. It has also noted that the Duchy has historically been regarded as a strong, secure landlord — which is precisely why the abrupt timetable has proved so destabilising.

What happens next

The immediate question is whether the six-month deadline will be extended or made more flexible for tenants who cannot secure finance. The broader question is whether the Duchy’s modernisation can credibly claim to serve communities while dismantling the tenancy arrangements that gave those communities stability.

For Bradninch’s farmers and residents, the choice is stark: borrow heavily to buy a home or farm they already occupy, or leave land that has sustained their families for generations. For William, the sale is an early test of whether a reformed Duchy can pursue social and environmental goals without imposing the costs of transition on its most vulnerable tenants.