Does anyone on here rent out their land?

[Miss_Millie]

My OH and I are planning on moving in the next couple of years. We will be able to afford a smallholding in the area we are looking in - some of the properties we've been looking at have had around 10 - 20 acres.

The reason we're looking for this kind of property is that we both work from home full-time, and would like to convert a stone barn into a home office, rather than renting out a unit. Presently, we work from home in our semi, but both of our businesses have grown a lot since we bought our current house and we could do with much more space.

We both like the idea of having some land, for the potential of having some larger animals in the future, planting some fruit trees etc.

We would probably only need a few acres for our personal requirements at the most, but I'm interested to know if anyone on here has surplus land that they rent out, to potentially help fund renovation/mortage etc?

E.g, some of the properties we've been looking at have land that is used for haylage. Would a farmer/equestrian person be interested to rent that land and continue using it for said purpose? Or how about a few paddocks with a stable block?

I know this is kind of vague, and that I might be ignorant to a lot of issues that could arise from this kind of arrangement. Which is why I'm keen to know if anyone else has done/is doing something similar, and what their experience has been

 

[Frumpoon]

Depending on where you are looking I know a few professionals/competitive amateurs/multi horse owners who would rent a yard and surplus land as a whole.
It should be a very attractive offer to many folks

 

[Miss_Millie]

Depending on where you are looking I know a few professionals/competitive amateurs/multi horse owners who would rent a yard and surplus land as a whole.
It should be a very attractive offer to many folks

That's really great to know. The only other thing I was wondering is how much responsibility is on the land owner if you are renting out land - e.g. if you were to rent a few paddocks with a stable block, would it be the responsibility of the tenant to maintain the fences, or is that the land owner's job?

 

[Frumpoon]

I think it depends whatever is agreed with the renter(rentee?)

An equine solicitor could probably draw up a decent agreement for you to reflect however much or little responsibility you wanted

 

[Miss_Millie]

I think it depends whatever is agreed with the renter(rentee?)

An equine solicitor could probably draw up a decent agreement for you to reflect however much or little responsibility you wanted

Thank you, this is really helpful

 

[Orangehorse]

You could either rent a stable yard and paddocks, or a per stable rent or if it is just grassland rent to a neighbouring farmer for grass/sheep/cattle and they generally cut the hedges annually if you wish, or every other year.

As for who is responsible for what - have a contract! In agricultural terms there is usually a "grass keep" agreement, when the animals have to be off the land from say November to March, or a tenancy agreement.

Never let anyone on your land without a written agreement with both parties signing, or a tenancy can be formed by default. There will be a local land agent who will have these contracts available and will explain the differences.
I don't know about insurance, you would have to find that out too.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

If you decide to rent out any of your facilities, please ensure that you have a water-tight contract, written by a solicitor.

 

[Miss_Millie]

Thank you very much Orangehorse and Pearlsasinger. I wonder if, given all of the legalities, it would be worth the headache. Maybe we should look at getting a smaller parcel of land instead, for our intended personal uses. I just wondered if it could be a good way to partially fund the mortgage, but if there is business tax too then there might not be much of a profit at all.

 

[windand rain]

We rent our land from a great landlord he lets us rent per head so its never overstocked we try really hard to keep it in the best shape. We do all the maintenance and land management He provides fence posts for us to repair his fences

 

[Miss_Millie]

We rent our land from a great landlord he lets us rent per head so its never overstocked we try really hard to keep it in the best shape. We do all the maintenance and land management He provides fence posts for us to repair his fences

This is interesting, thanks for your response! Do you mind if I ask what you use the land for?

 

[Orangehorse]

Thank you very much Orangehorse and Pearlsasinger. I wonder if, given all of the legalities, it would be worth the headache. Maybe we should look at getting a smaller parcel of land instead, for our intended personal uses. I just wondered if it could be a good way to partially fund the mortgage, but if there is business tax too then there might not be much of a profit at all.

There is no tax on land (at the moment!). If you let out for grazing there are no rates or Council Tax, you would get some rent and have the place looked after, which can mount up if you keep having to pay contractors to do things. For instance we rent some grass keep for cattle and we cut the hedges, obviously keep the fencing in good condition and also remove one lady's muck heap!

There could be Council Tax to pay on stables let out, but it could well be under the limit for rural business in which case it would be nothing, and surely your tenant would pay that if necessary.

As above, it is a bit daunting if you haven't done this before, so a Land Agent is your friend who will, for a fee of course, steer you through the complexities. Be reassured that there is a lot of land that is rented out to various people all over the country.

 

[Miss_Millie]

There is no tax on land (at the moment!). If you let out for grazing there are no rates or Council Tax, you would get some rent and have the place looked after, which can mount up if you keep having to pay contractors to do things. For instance we rent some grass keep for cattle and we cut the hedges, obviously keep the fencing in good condition and also remove one lady's muck heap!

There could be Council Tax to pay on stables let out, but it could well be under the limit for rural business in which case it would be nothing, and surely your tenant would pay that if necessary.

As above, it is a bit daunting if you haven't done this before, so a Land Agent is your friend who will, for a fee of course, steer you through the complexities. Be reassured that there is a lot of land that is rented out to various people all over the country.

Thank you Orangehorse, this is incredibly helpful. Definitely a lot to think about

 

[windand rain]

This is interesting, thanks for your response! Do you mind if I ask what you use the land for?

We graze native ponies we poo pick daily, keep the view from his house like a well mown lawn. and he lets us use it as we wish. We must be doing something right as we have been there 11 years. I hope he stays happy as it wont be easy to find the same. Basically apart from supplying us with fence posts to replace rotten ones he has no outlay on the land He gets his rent by standing order so never gets missed. Extra fencing to divide it we have bought and any horse damage we pay to fix it. In return he only has to pay for the electric and water both of which I am careful to avoid over use. We dont have stables except in a single one used for storage which in a dire emergency could be emptied, We have a couple of sheds that we provided and erected. I pay for fertiliser, weedkilling and soil testing etc to keep his land healthy

 

[Miss_Millie]

We graze native ponies we poo pick daily, keep the view from his house like a well mown lawn. and he lets us use it as we wish. We must be doing something right as we have been there 11 years. I hope he stays happy as it wont be easy to find the same. Basically apart from supplying us with fence posts to replace rotten ones he has no outlay on the land He gets his rent by standing order so never gets missed. Extra fencing to divide it we have bought and any horse damage we pay to fix it. In return he only has to pay for the electric and water both of which I am careful to avoid over use. We dont have stables except in a single one used for storage which in a dire emergency could be emptied, We have a couple of sheds that we provided and erected. I pay for fertiliser, weedkilling and soil testing etc to keep his land healthy

Thanks so much for letting me know the details. It sounds like you have a very mutually beneficial arrangement there

 

[HashRouge]

I think there would be very high demand from equestrian owners, whether you have stables plus land or just grazing land. That sort of thing available to rent is extremely hard to come by! We rent privately from a gentleman who bought the house and land (it's a gorgeous property) with the plan of knocking down the house and building a new one. We're very hopeful he'll be keen for us to stay once the new house is built but I guess we'll see. But the sort of set up we have is honestly like gold dust round here. He doesn't do any of the land maintenance - we do all of it, including any fencing repairs/ harrowing/ rolling.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

My OH and I are planning on moving in the next couple of years. We will be able to afford a smallholding in the area we are looking in - some of the properties we've been looking at have had around 10 - 20 acres.

The reason we're looking for this kind of property is that we both work from home full-time, and would like to convert a stone barn into a home office, rather than renting out a unit. Presently, we work from home in our semi, but both of our businesses have grown a lot since we bought our current house and we could do with much more space.

We both like the idea of having some land, for the potential of having some larger animals in the future, planting some fruit trees etc.

We would probably only need a few acres for our personal requirements at the most, but I'm interested to know if anyone on here has surplus land that they rent out, to potentially help fund renovation/mortage etc?

E.g, some of the properties we've been looking at have land that is used for haylage. Would a farmer/equestrian person be interested to rent that land and continue using it for said purpose? Or how about a few paddocks with a stable block?

I know this is kind of vague, and that I might be ignorant to a lot of issues that could arise from this kind of arrangement. Which is why I'm keen to know if anyone else has done/is doing something similar, and what their experience has been

i have had many enquiries to rent a field or such to someone, and more recently dog agility. I always decline as we do not alow dogs here, and they would upset horses, so yes we have.

 

[Miss_Millie]

I think there would be very high demand from equestrian owners, whether you have stables plus land or just grazing land. That sort of thing available to rent is extremely hard to come by! We rent privately from a gentleman who bought the house and land (it's a gorgeous property) with the plan of knocking down the house and building a new one. We're very hopeful he'll be keen for us to stay once the new house is built but I guess we'll see. But the sort of set up we have is honestly like gold dust round here. He doesn't do any of the land maintenance - we do all of it, including any fencing repairs/ harrowing/ rolling.

Land maintenance is what I would be concerned about (not having enough knowledge/time) so it is encouraging to know that some who rent, are happy to do this themselves as part of the contract. It sounds like a great arrangement you have there

 

[rextherobber]

I kept my horses at a private house, it was perfect, the owner did all the land management side of things, I paid rent on a beautiful old yard and 8 acres of grazing. You do need to be mindful of the fact that you are in effect in someone's home, but it worked extremely well for us both. I only left when we moved out if the area. Am still in touch with them, sadly they no longer rent to horse owners after a couple of bad experiences with replacement tenants, they have a local sheep farmer who uses the fields instead

 

[Shilasdair]

Just to make an additional point - how easily you would rent your land would depend entirely on where it is.
In some parts of Wales, and Scotland, land is so cheap and the populations so low that there would be little demand.

 

[Jeni the dragon]

I keep my two at a private house. Originally found it as my friend started looking after the owners animals when they went on holiday and I was looking for somewhere for my mare to foal. I'm very aware of being their home, especially now as they are both shielding. But it's easy enough for me to park and walk across the field to the stables.
They really enjoy seeing the ponies and are very quick to let me know if they spot any problems. I did leave for a short time as but after bring back on livery for a wee while I moved back!
I feel very lucky to be there.