Financial Climate - Equestrian Shared Property

[tallyho!]

Hope this is a valid question to post in general equestrian The Festive Controller...

The UK seems scattered with large (e.g. >20acre property which is not selling and the market is declining still further) properties and with more and more of the wealthy leaving the UK, what will happen to them?

I want to know if anyone else has been thinking of pooling resources to purchase a shared equestrian property to keep either thier own horses or perhaps to have part ownership in an equestrian business e.g. livery. Infact, why stop there, what about catteries/kennels/farm/other business.

Have you considered it with friends/family? If so, what type would you go for? A custom built centre with permission for living or a private estate with room to expand?

If you're there already, what is it like and would you suggest it to friends?

Are you living the dream or has it turned into a nightmare?

Is shared/community living worth thinking about in this day and age? Could there be other benefits to life e.g. childcare, bills, extended skillbase etc.

 

[tallyho!]

This isn't an advert by the way.... if you're wondering what I'm up to - wondered if there were like-minded people willing to impart some wisdom on the matter.

 

[missparis]

Back home in Australia, this is exactly what my family did. We had a 20 acre property that was used for DIY Livery. We also had chickens on the farm (free range eggs for sale), offered floats/trailers for hire, offered transport to events, had accommodation that people could hire out (our property was situated in the middle of the horse show territory, so this proved to be quite profitable).

Originally, the farm was an Ostrich farm, so we already had fencing with automatic water troughs set up. There was a large industrial barn which we converted into 8 stables, tack room, agistee kitchen room and indoor horse wash. We received planning permission for a large outdoor arena with lights. There was originally one large family home but we also built a smaller cottage for my grandparents (they didnt want or need anything large).

As for the share/community section, my grandparents mainly dealt with the livery side, however, my uncle owned a shop so they helped out with childcare. They didnt need to pay many bills as they ran the livery for my uncle.

It worked quite well until my uncle/aunty wanted out. Was a shame and they now regret selling. Obviously, when working with family and friends, you must expect that you will fall out at times and it is tough but I found this great during my early competing years and probably wouldnt have gotten as far without the family support and farm.

 

[ttt]

I think I would be a little worried about this. What would happen if one of the other parties was struggling for some reason? What about if one party wanted to leave/sell up?
We haven't got a lot but what we have is all ours (well, the mortgage companies!) so everything is our decision.

 

[tallyho!]

Back home in Australia, this is exactly what my family did. We had a 20 acre property that was used for DIY Livery. We also had chickens on the farm (free range eggs for sale), offered floats/trailers for hire, offered transport to events, had accommodation that people could hire out (our property was situated in the middle of the horse show territory, so this proved to be quite profitable).

Originally, the farm was an Ostrich farm, so we already had fencing with automatic water troughs set up. There was a large industrial barn which we converted into 8 stables, tack room, agistee kitchen room and indoor horse wash. We received planning permission for a large outdoor arena with lights. There was originally one large family home but we also built a smaller cottage for my grandparents (they didnt want or need anything large).

As for the share/community section, my grandparents mainly dealt with the livery side, however, my uncle owned a shop so they helped out with childcare. They didnt need to pay many bills as they ran the livery for my uncle.

It worked quite well until my uncle/aunty wanted out. Was a shame and they now regret selling. Obviously, when working with family and friends, you must expect that you will fall out at times and it is tough but I found this great during my early competing years and probably wouldnt have gotten as far without the family support and farm.

Totally understand from you point of view there until relatives had other priorities. Thank you missparis.

Did you ever sell to other members of the family or friends or even rented that part out? We're there other opportunities afterwards?

Glad it worked out for the majority part though.. encouraging to say the least.

 

[tallyho!]

I think I would be a little worried about this. What would happen if one of the other parties was struggling for some reason? What about if one party wanted to leave/sell up?
We haven't got a lot but what we have is all ours (well, the mortgage companies!) so everything is our decision.

Well this is good feedback. What if you did commit and someone struggled? Would you help?

What I have in mind is no debt to mortgagers. It would be cash investments. Divided into appropriate shares.

Hasn't anyone even considered this?

 

[Rueysmum]

What I have in mind is no debt to mortgagers. It would be cash investments. Divided into appropriate shares.

Hasn't anyone even considered this?

Yes, I have thought about this quite a lot and even went as far as discussing the implications of dividing up a large-ish house into separate living areas, which is complex legally, but do-able. The thing which puts me off is the lack of security/permanence e.g. what would happen if one person wanted to sell their share/died etc. Would the remaining person/people end up being lumbered with some ghastly relative/totally unsuitable person?

There are definitely pros and cons - it's just a question of balancing the two.

 

[kerilli]

I've wanted to do this for a long time, think it would be brilliant. I actually suggested it to my best friend but unfortunately our house sales didn't synchronise, and her OH hates this part of the world, they went out Wales way instead. As regards pooling resources though, it'd be fantastic - between us we could have had 2 arenas (1 for dr, 1 for a permanent sj course), and so many other great facilities that are either too expensive for 1 person to buy, or would be underused. shared transport to events, someone else around to keep an eye on horses, easy to cover for each other, etc etc, all great.
I'd still like to do it, but I think it'd need to be fairly specific:
separately owned fields, so people could keep theirs, and their horses, how they want.
possibly separate yards, as above.
rules about skipping out arenas straight after use, etc.

legally, I think it'd have to be very carefully done, %ages of whole thing owned, possibility of selling ones share, etc etc.