Cost of building own equestrian facility as opposed to buying?

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The oppurtunity has POSSIBLY arisen to purchase 25acres of land next door to our house.
Now, if planning permission to built an equestrian facility (stables, arena, gallops) is given we will most likely take the oppurtunity.
I know a few of you on here have built your own and I was wondering if there was a rough estimation of the amount of money it cost you? (trying to see if its worth it, or just worth buying ready made facility).
We would aim to built 10stables, tack room, feed room and hay barn - large outdoor arena, fence off paddocks and also fence off some gallops with the aim to make them all weather eventually. Possibly also a small cross country training course.
We would be doing this over the next 3years if we did take this land.
We would also be looking into the possibility of trying for PP for a flat above the stables (will suss this out before buying the land of course).

So to those of you who have built up your own yard from scratch, was it worth it, financially and otherwise? xx
 
No I'd say it is never cost-efficient to start from scratch. I've done it twice now and in my opinion, it has cost far more than it would have cost to have something already done.....however we have always gone for location, location, location.....and often that is not something you have any say in with respects to trying to buy an already done place. So if you want to live somewhere specific, then you'll have to do what we did and start from scratch.

Good luck.
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Well, my livery yard will have a 100ft x 70ft brand new building to house 30 stables, a new 60ft x 40ft lean to for the tack room and feed room and a 60m x 40m arena. Then we will have a horse walker, solarium, clients lounge, wash room, rug room, toilet and shower in a 90ft x 30ft existing barn. And then we have a 60ft x 100ft existing barn for my own stables and storage of hay and straw.

We have a budget of £200k for this.

I think it is better to start from scratch as you can have exactly what you want and spend what you want, however it prehaps isn't cost-efficient.

Good Luck! Sounds really exciting, let us know what you decide
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Forgot to ask but does this land have any kind of building on it at the moment?

Just asking as around here its near impossible to get PP for what you are thinking of, and they would never give PP for living accomodation........otherwise everyone would start buying fields and building houses/living accomodation.
 
That's the same as where I lived in Hampshire.....the only way you could build a yard back there was if you already had a house on the land. In my area, you couldn't get permission for stables on an empty field - it had to have a dwelling before they would even consider it.
 
Wow you're new yard sounds fantastic.
It hasn't got any buildings on it but is currently used as a hay field - obviously we won't be buying it without confirmation we would be able to use it as an equestrian facility
 
You would also have to change the usage of the field then, because as a hay field it will be classified as agricultural and you would need to change it to equestrian. If I was you, I'd pop into the local planning office and ask them their opinions on the success of you gaining PP and having a change of use.

You do know that you can apply for planning even on land which doesn't belong to you?
 
Oh I didn't know that, how random! Yep will ring up planning office and have a chat before we do anything - otherwise we could end up with a 25 acre field and nothing to do on it lol
 
Yes, totally agree with Tia. Have a chat with them as here they are all for changing use from agriculture to equestrian beacuse of the government policy.

And like Tia has said, you can apply for PP even though you don't own the land!
 
we built our stables. to pull down the old ones (condemned buildings so had to be done), and put 4 new brick built stables with a carriguated bitumen roof (the roof timbers are set up so they can take slate but we cant afford to put a slate roof on at the moment), all drainage and the step put in cost £15,000. but they are built with cavity walls so it could be converted into a cottage at a later date if nessecary.

Its the foundations that are the most expensive bit weve found.
 
I've done it three times now and would say buying somewhere ready done is preferable.
The costs involved are mega, this week we have had three contractors quote us for laying a concrete floor about 90 feet by 20. They start at £5000...
The stabling on top is probably cheaper!!!
Then think of lighting, weaving grills, water drinkers, tie rings etc it all adds up in the end.
Building your own arena can be as cheap as £12000, but al of this is pie in the sky without pp. Go and talk to your local council, ask them to visit the site and advise.
Then grovel..
Ask what they would agree to, not say what you want. Often a block of stables and the arena is possible with expansion later. If they sound against it, don't waste your money.
It is often cheaper to move house and buy a ready made business.
I wish I'd done that!
 
Well we are looking at a house which is £545,000 which I ADORE but its in lincolnshire - which is a big move but I have no ties so theres no real reason why i couldn't, other than the money aspect of things.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Well we are looking at a house which is £545,000 which I ADORE but its in lincolnshire - which is a big move but I have no ties so theres no real reason why i couldn't, other than the money aspect of things.

[/ QUOTE ]I know plenty of people who have relocated to Lincolnshire. It's a nice area, BUT the house prices refelct the jobs there. It's a long commute to the nearest large cities, and most horsey people have their own land.
Now, move over to north northants or south leics, and yards with decent facilities are thin on the ground. There's lots of people who wopuld pay for a good yard, good 24/7 grazing etc, if only they could find one within the area. The A14 is easy to get to from most places, and is also good for travelling to competition venues, whereas Lincs only has a couple near by.
 
Thats really interesting information katy, thank you!! This is all stuff I have to think about when choosing the location to start up the business on. Although it won't be a livery yard as such, I will still need to be in an area where there is demand for the business. Where I am now I know there is because i'm getting a huge amount of freelance work, and several of my clients have expressed an interest in coming to my yard if it were to be set up locally. BUT house prices here are phenomanol - for the house i liked in lincolnshire, if it were here it would be nearer 2mill!
 
i've built my own equestrian facilities from scratch three times now, and it's always been worth it. i have always sold for more than the value of the initial purchase + all additions etc etc, and then some. plus there's the satisfaction of putting everything exactly where you want it, to your specifications. and, it's fun!
rough budget depends on whether you want internal stables or not, and how many, the area you want concreted (always surprisingly expensive), what other storage you want for hay, bedding, maybe horsebox, feed, etc, size of arena and surface chosen, the type of fencing you want (Fieldguard electric is the best i've found, and i can say that after choosing different stuff every other time!), and a thousand other things. very difficult to quantify. you can get quotes from stable manufacturers to give you some idea of what the buildings will cost, for starters. off the top of my head, for what you want i'd say, very vaguely, about £100k, or more if you want everything tip-top.
as other people have said though, make sure you have a hope of getting planning permission first!
btw, my last move was to South Lincolnshire, and i love it. the hacking's fantastic (because it's so flat and there's hardly any hedges, drivers can see you from miles away and vice-versa), the soil's amazing (no more boggy fields and mud-fever struck miserable horses), the winds dry the fields out in record time... i could go on.
 
We're based in S Lincs and bought a house last year, got PP for 4 stables and arena relatively easily (South Holland District Council)

Work wise, I work in Peterborough which a 35 min commute from home, London Kings Cross is 50 mins on train from there
 
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