Sophie Walker BSc (Hons) PgD MRICS FAAV

Rural Surveyor


I started at Hobbs Parker in July 2014, after graduating from the Royal Agricultural University with a BSc Honours in Agriculture.

From rural East Kent originally, I worked in various agriculture-related roles, including at Grain Harvesters, before moving into rural surveying. My time at Hobbs Parker originally began with a work placement in 2012. Having completed a postgraduate degree in Rural Estate and Land Management at Harper Adams University, I became a Chartered Surveyor, Registered Valuer and Fellow of the CAAV in 2017.

My workload is varied and includes valuations, landlord and tenant matters, Basic Payment Scheme and stewardship, utilities and grant schemes.

I am most at home in the countryside and outside of work, enjoy being out and about in it. I like to shoot and ski (when the opportunity arises), as well as being a bit of a petrolhead.


Blog articles featuring Sophie

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Outlook - Spring 2024

By Matthew Sawdon

Valuable information about Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), farm grants and support and the farmland sale market in 2024.

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Outlook - Winter 2023

By Matthew Sawdon

Important updates regarding Agricultural Property Relief, Red Book reports for IHT valuations, telecoms masts and planning successes in 2023.

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Outlook - Autumn 2023

By Matthew Sawdon

Expansion of Permitted Development Rights, developments on the Sustainable Farming Incentive and news of grants for cattle farmers

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Calling all pig, beef and dairy farmers - slurry infrastructure grant open

By Thomas Hamplett

Grants of up to £250,000 are now available to help farmers increase slurry storage capacity.

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New grant scheme targets AONBs and National Parks

By Sophie Walker

The scheme is for one-off projects which: support nature recovery mitigate the impacts of climate change provide opportunities for people to discover, enjoy and understand the landscape and its cultural heritage support nature-friendly, sustainable farm […]

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Rights of Way

By Sophie Walker

As England entered Lockdown 3.0, despite the weather, the ‘daily walk’ once again came to the fore as a valuable source of respite. While it’s great to see people enjoying the countryside, the flip-side for […]

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Wanting to plough your grassland?

By Sophie Walker

The Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture) (EIA) Regulations came into force in 2006 with the aim of protecting environmentally significant areas from being damaged by agricultural works. Broadly speaking, where agricultural land has not been physically […]

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How to protect your land from the creation of new rights of way

By Sophie Walker

While everyone should be able to appreciate and enjoy the British countryside, public access causes a range of issues and it is in landowners’ interest to prevent new routes being created. Increasing levels of dog […]

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Outlook Summer 2017

By Sam Snart

In this edition: We look at how owners of brownfield sites looking to bring forward housing-led development could be given permission in principle (PiP) after new planning legislation came into force on 15 April, according […]

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