DIY in the SE How Much

[irishdraft]

Help please I've been approached by someone who is looking for DIY livery. I haven't had anyone here for at least 10 years on this basis, most of my friends have their horses at home. It would be out 24/7 but stable available if weather bad, own field, use of school, tack room, storage for feed & parking for small box. The person has been paying £20 a week for the same minus the school. I know this is very cheap & so does she but I actually would like her to come for various reasons but OH was not happy when I suggested £25.00 a week, we do live on site, so what is the going rate for this, we are in East Sussex .

 

[Barton Bounty]

Id say £30 per week at least

 

[OlderNotWiser]

We’re in Kent and the DIY rate here is £160 a month. 24/7 t/o, allocated stable, use of school, tack room and storage.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Anything from £35pw upwards with the facilities you are offering. Plus extra for box parking.
After all, that's only starting at £5 a day!
Be very clear on any extra services...... and lay out ground rules before she comes, even for haying in field to tying on yard, worming, feeding, to timing of arrival and staying on yard in summer evenings etc etc.
Its the little things that break you very quickly when it's your own place with no other liveries around.
Hope it works out for you.

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

I’m paying £185 pcm for the grazing and facilities you are offering with amazing hacking and I’m in West Sussex but not at a private yard. I’d say locally what I’m paying is around average some a bit more some a bit less.

I think there is a sweet spot between charging enough to attract the right kind of person without putting them off with it being too expensive.

 

[Jenko109]

£150pcm minimum.

 

[mariew]

You can see why yards are closing, I was paying 180 for a nice DIY yard almost 15 years ago in Surrey. Prices don't seem to have gone up at all! On my full livery yard it was £40 per week about 5 or 6 years ago. I'd charge enough. £40-50/week. Both with nice hacking.

 

[meleeka]

£150 per month sounds about right to me.

 

[Landcruiser]

£25 a week would be giving it away. £150/month about right for DIY but have a written contract and unless you have a reciprocal arrangement then specify extra charges for extra services should they be required (and write it all down).

 

[The Xmas Furry]

You can see why yards are closing, I was paying 180 for a nice DIY yard almost 15 years ago in Surrey. Prices don't seem to have gone up at all! On my full livery yard it was £40 per week about 5 or 6 years ago. I'd charge enough. £40-50/week. Both with nice hacking.

I was charging £25pw DIY in 98/99, the last time I had regular liveries, in NW Surrey, no arena but direct access to hacking, stable and grazing.
Prices are indeed low for what folk get these days.

 

[asmp]

Help please I've been approached by someone who is looking for DIY livery. I haven't had anyone here for at least 10 years on this basis, most of my friends have their horses at home. It would be out 24/7 but stable available if weather bad, own field, use of school, tack room, storage for feed & parking for small box. The person has been paying £20 a week for the same minus the school. I know this is very cheap & so does she but I actually would like her to come for various reasons but OH was not happy when I suggested £25.00 a week, we do live on site, so what is the going rate for this, we are in East Sussex .

That definitely too cheap if you have the use of a school. I don’t pay a lot where I am but we have no school or tackroom.

 

[9tails]

How badly do you need her? If you charge her twice what she's currently paying and she's able to stay for £20 a week, I can't see her biting your hand off to move to your place. But I also think that your husband isn't going to be happy with any price you charge as DIY horse livery is probably the only thing that's good value, even at £50 a week. Seriously, with dog boarding around £20 a day, it's unreal that we can keep horses so cheaply.

Ask her to pay £30 a week, this is still a massive bargain in East Sussex. Plus £5 a week for the lorry.

 

[spoo]

I pay £60 a week for DIY

 

[Annagain]

Would it be easier for you to order hay in and charge her for it? I'm just thinking it might work out cheaper to buy / be easier to store it all together? I pay £37.50 per week including hay over the winter months for everything you've mentioned except turnout is in a group. Nominally, it's £30 livery and £7.50 hay. I'm in a cheaper area so would think it needs to be at least as much if not a bit more (than the pure livery price) in the S.East.

 

[Nicnac]

I'll go against the grain and say £50 a week. Livery prices are far too cheap in the UK hence why so many are closing. You will be paying for field maintenance, fencing, muck removal, school maintenance, electricity, water, lorry storage not to mention the purchase price of your property even if it may be paid for plus council tax which will incorporate the whole property not just the house.

I've got mine at home and it's really not as cheap as people think.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

I'll go against the grain and say £50 a week. Livery prices are far too cheap in the UK hence why so many are closing. You will be paying for field maintenance, fencing, muck removal, school maintenance, electricity, water, lorry storage not to mention the purchase price of your property even if it may be paid for plus council tax which will incorporate the whole property not just the house.

I've got mine at home and it's really not as cheap as people think.

Completely agree.
Any casual callers popping into my yard and I tell them its £70pw DIY for stable, water and field, anything else on top, it's only a tenner a day.....
TFF, still not taking permanent liveries.

 

[TheBigPony]

£260 a month with stable, school, grazing etc

 

[TwyfordM]

£160 a month I pay for the same

 

[twiggy2]

If there is adequate grass in the fields then I would say £35 a week at the minimum

 

[irishdraft]

Thankyou for the replies I must admit prices are much higher than I realized. I'm struggling with a new mare atm and it would be so nice to have someone around to hack with etc . OH is of course quite rightly thinking of the practicalities & obviously the person is getting a very cheap deal where she is, so to go to market rate is quite a jump in cost, which presumably she will have to pay as her yard is apparently closing soon.

 

[irishdraft]

If there is adequate grass in the fields then I would say £35 a week at the minimum

Well this is one of the reasons Im keen as I have 14 acres with only 2 horses on, one retired who needs to be restricted over summer so we have way to much grazing .

 

[Tiddlypom]

£50 a week minimum. You'll be subsidising her if you do it for less.

 

[Afon_34]

Help please I've been approached by someone who is looking for DIY livery. I haven't had anyone here for at least 10 years on this basis, most of my friends have their horses at home. It would be out 24/7 but stable available if weather bad, own field, use of school, tack room, storage for feed & parking for small box. The person has been paying £20 a week for the same minus the school. I know this is very cheap & so does she but I actually would like her to come for various reasons but OH was not happy when I suggested £25.00 a week, we do live on site, so what is the going rate for this, we are in East Sussex .

Sounds as if you do want her/ a livery so I would suggest £30- to keep your OH happy that it's a bit more than £25 but still a (more than) fair price for the lady as £20, as others have said is ridiculously cheap. As she's approached you she's obviously looking to move/ your yard appeals to her for some reason.?

 

[ponynutz]

Sounds as if she's aware the jump to market prices will be big and she's pushing her luck.

BUT also sounds like you'd get something out of this so I'd suggest starting at £5-10 under market price per week and then charging that £5-10 back per month to park the lorry.

If you weren't sure you'd get anything out of the deal I'd suggest charging market prices and letting her make the decision but it doesn't seem like this is the case for you?

I certainly wouldn't charge £20-25 a week, that's what I'M paying for a PART LOAN in the NE and consider it cheap.

 

[Abacus]

I have always refused liveries, except friends who contribute by helping with my horses, because I don't want to be running a service for people. When I had them in the past I found that if a fence broke or similar, they expected it fixed immediately. When they are paying this is unarguably reasonable, but it doesn't suit my lifestyle of the yard being the place I go to relax, and jobs get done when it suits me. When I had just 2 liveries it seemed to be the case that whenever I arrived on the yard I would be mobbed with requests, and all I wanted to do was ride my horse and relax after work. I would think very carefully again about taking liveries for this reason. As to the cost: the price people pay for DIY livery is wildly out of kilter with land value and maintenance, and to me just isn't worth it when you add in hassle.

 

[YourValentine]

Deleted

 

[irishdraft]

Sounds as if you do want her/ a livery so I would suggest £30- to keep your OH happy that it's a bit more than £25 but still a (more than) fair price for the lady as £20, as others have said is ridiculously cheap. As she's approached you she's obviously looking to move/ your yard appeals to her for some reason.?

Where she keeps her horse is 2 mins up my lane so she rides past my place most days. Also I see her out & about a bit so we have similar interests.

 

[Fieldlife]

Where she keeps her horse is 2 mins up my lane so she rides past my place most days. Also I see her out & about a bit so we have similar interests.

Could you arrange to hack out together a few times and see how fit. Does she hack at times that suit you?

e.g. I tend to hack at 7.45am which suits no one on my yard.

it might be easier to offer to pay her a small amount to hack with you to get your horse hacking confidently solo?

Is there any loss to you in taking on a livery? Do you have enough grass year round for your horses?

will taking on a livery mean you need to feed more hay? Or that you cut less hay from your fields.

You could offer two choices

1) DIY livery to include livery poo picking all facilities provided higher cost.

2) more of a collaborative where help is expected with fencing / land / deliveries / appointments / harrowing school / weeding etc working together. Lower rent expected. Clear contract needed.

 

[twiggy2]

If she is local and you see her and her horses a lot I would day you qould know she looks after them properly so you shouldn't get any issues.
£35 to 45 a week per horse sounds fair as with plenty of grass she won't be needing much hay.

 

[AandK]

I’m in SE England (West Sussex) and pay £155 for DIY, it is cheap for the area and is about to go up. I agree with the poster who suggested a few trial hacks together first, you may not get on or have similar hacking routines (time of day/length of hack/speed of pace!)