Buying land.....

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LOZHUG

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At long last I hope to be buying some land :) its the land where I have been keeping my horse for the past 18 months.

I am looking to buy 5 and a half acres, a stable block of 4 stables, a feed/tack room an old ruin of a barn and a couple of smaller store rooms. There is electric from the house but I would like to get my own supply sorted ASAP and there is also water from the house again which I would like sorting ASAP. When I say the house it's the house of the lady who owns the land now.

Costs and things I need to think about so if anyone has any experience or advice that would be great.

Costs thought about:

- the land
- land registry
- solicitors fees

I have no idea how much getting electric and water will cost. There is a brown electric post about 75m from where it would be connected into the feed room and water is about 100m if that away from me. Any ideas on cost or how to get quotes?

I was also hoping to get a new barn put up but can't find any prices for them either and have no idea if you need planning with the old one being a ruin?

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance

Nice cold cider or a glass of wine if you survived my spiel to the end lol :D
 
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Don't forget about public liability insurance and insurance for buildings against fire etc. Ours is through NFU but there are others out there who do this cover.
 
Land Registry fees are based on cost of land. I would check the Land Registry website for this. Solicitor's fees vary hugely, but it is worth getting a solicitor with experience of buying land (as opposed to houses). You need to ask a lot of questions too. I appreciate you are very familiar with the land, but make sure you know where the exact boundaries are (they do not necessarily match the Land Registry plan especially on land). The solicitor also needs to check you have the right planning permission for its current use, the buildings on it and the building you intend to put on it. You will probably need to (and certainly ought to) get a surveyor out when buying land from someone who is splitting their house from some of their land to map everything properly and can let you know the exact acreage you are buying.

I found it cost a lot more than I expected to maintain land. I was on livery yards for years before I bought my own land and really thought I knew what I was letting myself in for, but both in terms of time and cost I was way out. I don't have electric and fortunately the water was already linked up, but I will need to sort out the drainage properly which is going to be expensive.

Good luck though. It is fab having your own place.
 
Firstly congratulations on getting your own land.

We had to pay to get both eletric and water. The water mains ran oustide our field, and from memory (5 years ago) it cost approx £3k to get connected. The electric, which we had to run from the other side of the field was approx £8k

Prices on a barn - well that depends. Are you looking for a wooden or agri steel framed building, and what size ?
 
Just beware that costs for connecting water and particularly electricity can be horrendous (tens of thousands). It depends on where the connection needs to come from - not necessarily where the nearest pole is. Also the electric/water companies have a monopoly so can pretty much charge what they want. It can also take ages to arrange so factor this in.
 
Or could you look not getting sub meters pug in, we used farm plus for a great wooden building around £6k plus vat.
 
just get the land and worry about all the little stuff later.

our water was £600 - £800 (cant remember exact)

we dont pay rates

dont pull old buildings down,they will have rights and better to replace than have to apply for planning and starting from scratch.
 
think my solicitors fees including land registry and basic survey was £500, I dont pay any rates just small amount per acre to drainage board each year (under £20).

When I bought my land I had no water but the seller who also owned adjoining field did - I had it written into the contract that i had access to water via a submetre - the water board is unlikely to do you a submeter - they used to but apparently charge alot now or wont do it but my meter didnt cost alot to buy and was easily fitted. We dont have mains elec and dont find it an issue I have low voltage lights running from a leisure battery - tried a generator and it got nicked (and was noisy) !!

Get the land and water sorted - worry about the rest later .

I am fairly sure you would be able to replace old buildings with like for like (needs to be same usage) but if any doubt ask the planning office for a meeting down there - you dont have to own it to ask them questions about it !

Good luck
 
Thank you all for your comments and sharing your experiences.

With regards to the old barn it is beyond repair but would a new one be ok to go there if its the same size use etc without planning? Or will it still have to passed by planning?

I am going to have to be rather tight buying and spending from now on. This is all going to cost me quite a bit.
 
You shoud be able to replace the original barn with a new one provided the dimensions and style are the same (However if the house or barn are listed or your are in a conservation area then not the case) . Have a chat with the local planning officer at your district council or instruct a surveyor to do it on your behalf.
 
We manage with solar panels and batteries for lighting at stables and electric fencing- a lot cheaper than getting electricity. I think it will cost about £10k for a barn. Try Saltire website for ideas. Other than getting stables built we found fencing the next most expensive thing. Also need to allow for field maintenance - weed killers etc.
 
PeterNatt said:
You shoud be able to replace the original barn with a new one provided the dimensions and style are the same (However if the house or barn are listed or your are in a conservation area then not the case) . Have a chat with the local planning officer at your district council or instruct a surveyor to do it on your behalf.
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This might depend on whether structure is deemed to be still 'there' or just foundations - if the latter the council will still likely agree to replacement but it might need permission. I would talk to them if you are in doubt about which would apply. If you are happy you are repacing existing building (andnot altering footprint or height) then if you go ahead without PP make sure you have lots of good photos of the old buildings andmaps/google earth plans showing it too for proof.
 
It might be worth keeping the old barn and putting a new one somewhere else. Never know you might one day get planning to convert to a house :D :D
 
I brought my 4 acres 8 years ago this month and its now all paid for :D it cost a bit to set up (more than i thought it would ) but its been well worth it, and i dont regret any minute of it. the maintenance part is time consuming but worth the effort put in.

i manage with electric from a generator, its locked away in the field room and its all set up with a 13amp plug which goes into the generator to put the lighting on. i already had mains water with a seperate meter so didnt have to pay for that. i did have to have change of use for planning to convert to horseyculture (north shropshire's version of agricultural use for horses, included in cost of getting permission for 5 stables)

i have also managed to get a menage built and didnt need planning permission, it was all built up on top of ground level so no excavation needed and therefore no planning required. it works exceptionally well, drains well (put new land drains in which didnt need permission) and rarely freezes. it cost around £7k to do thanks to a local digger driver.

one word of waring with regard to having your own land, you will end up with more horses ! i started with 3 and now have 7 !!!! i rent 8 acres down the lane as well now to accomodate them all so be carefull and dont start collecting all waifs and strays needing a good home :)
 
If its all quite straight forward to buy it ask a solicitor how much they will charge to buy. I was lucky we did it all ourselves and the forms are available on the internet to do your own conveyancing. But worth getting a solicitor to check it over.

Cost of land can be ie £10k an acre not sure what land prices are like up your way. If its got no water or electric could be less. Road access is a bonus too.

You can look on planning portal replacing existing barn etc or patchup the current one may be cheaper.

Electrics and water you would need to contact both to ask how much! I am sure you will end up with a meter. I dont have either and collect rain water and manage without electricity but as has been said if the worse came to worse generator/solar.

Good luck it is nice having your own land and no interference! Get it signed ASAP before they change their minds. Its hard to find the right bit of land.We did our conveyancing in one week!
 
Don't demolish anything until you have sorted out planning permission for everything you want to do. Councils are in the process of introducing a new development tax called CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) on new buildings, but you will get credit for buildings already on site being used. Check your council's website to see if they have started charging it and what they are charging per m2. Im not sure of the details but it might be worth patching up the buildings and using them even if they are mostly inadequate to show the planners that they are "in use".
 
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