Help - paddocks in Surrey

[jonah]

Hi

I am looking at buying a property in Surrey which has some paddocks, however I know absolutely nothing about horses and desperately need some advice please.

The property has a couple of paddocks which we thought we could rent out (we are not horse riders and would not be interested in learning):

Paddock A: 5 acres, drive/gate access away from house, post and rail, a couple of large trees in the corner, no other shelter or water.

Paddocks B: 5 acres, perhaps a dozen large trees, shelter (like a large barn-type shelter), gate access from house driveway. Not currently connected to A but could be opened up or link-gate added.

Both paddocks have a public byway across them. The soil is quite sandy but the paddocks have not been used for some time and to my untrained eye look pretty wild/overgrown. I had a quick search on Google and would say they look a bit like this:

http://blog.primestables.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/A-paddock-needing-some-attention.jpg

Actually, possibly a bit more overgrown in A as B has had some cows in it recently.

Question 1 - would people rent paddocks without shelter, stables or even water? Would we need a water pipe as a minimum? (And guide on rental would be appreciated too).

Question 2 - whose responsibility is it to maintain the paddock, the renter or the owner or is it negotiable? From the little I had read there are issues with weeds, dung, etc? Would they be rentable in their current condition or would work be required to get them "usable"?

Question 3 - when we viewed we noticed a dog wandering around the paddocks (whippet?) - is this type of thing an issue in paddocks? I suspect it's a stupid question given this is "Horse and Hounds" but you never know

Question 4 - again, possibly a stupid question (!), but do people rent paddocks for anything other than horses? Ponies, goats?

Apologies again if these are basic questions, but we love the house and need to understand what we can do with this extra land and how much maintenance is involved on our part. FWIW, there are some stables and tack room on the property, however the only access is directly through/across the house so we didn't want them used. We could possibly split off some of the stables, but access would then only be via the far end of the paddock (ie. no car access).

Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[joeanne]

1) yes it would rent....land in Surrey is at a premium and highly sought after. That being the case you will be able to literally hand pick your tennents!
2) depends on what is in the contract. You can state its the responsibility of the tennent to maintain the land and the fencing. If you offer the 1st couple of months free to get the land as it should be (dung cleared or harrowed, weeds dealt with, fencing secured etc) you will probably save yourself the hastle of having to get it done yourself.
3) unless belonging to the owner of the field or the tennents of the field, no animal should be roaming unless there is a right of way and then the dog should be leashed.
4) yes, people will rent fields for cattle, sheep, goats....all sorts really!

If you were able to include access to the stables (even if it were through the paddock) then you would greatly increase the value of the letting.
You are in a very enviable position, so given you will see whoever rents the land on a daily basis, make sure its someone you think you will have no issue with (ie no children, dogs etc if you cant abide them!).
Oh and get a watertight contract!

 

[Archangel]

*waves from Surrey*

Q1 I rent 3 fields with a field shelter and a storage room (old stable). Sandy soil is ideal for horses as it doesn't churn up. I pay £10 pw/ph. It is on the cheaper side but fields are right under the house owner's nose so he wanted a quiet well behaved person

Q2 The owner fixes fences, tops the weeds and other housekeeping things as he has the equipment. I mend day to day breakages (and would pay for major damage). Horses can be little vandals I also manage the grass levels by rotating the grazing, closing off bits of the field, resting large chunks for the winter. Your field may benefit from topping before the horses arrive but check for ragwort (yellow flowers) which is lethal and must be removed (dug up).

Q3 Loose dogs can be a pain, as can members of the public rambling round the field. I would prob fence off the footpath area (if poss) to keep horses away from public and vice versa.

Q4 Farmers may be interested for sheep and other stock.

Horse people can be great and their horses lovely to look at but they can also be a pain Limit the number of horses in the field at any one time. Someone with several horses is easier as not so much storage space needed.

No water to the field is a pain but if water is available nearby then do-able. Access to dry standing with electric (for vet emergencies) is highly desirable.

 

[jonah]

Thanks very much for such a speedy reply!

That is all very reassuring... I guess in summary our ideal position would be to rent paddock A for anything, and paddock B for sheep/cattle (as it's nearer the house so would be better to have fewer visitors!). I was also pleased to see your comments on dogs as my daughter has a bit of a phobia with dogs, so provided we stipulate no dogs in our contracts then that should cover that (phew).

Is it an issue if paddock A has no water or man-made shelter? Would anyone be able to give me any rough idea on rents?

If I haven't completely exhausted my quota of daft questions I had one more - what exactly would people do when they visit the paddocks? I thought horses were put in paddocks to graze, do people also ride them in the paddocks, or would they primarily be visiting to groom the horses and maintain the paddocks?

 

[BigRed]

If you are buying this property because you like the privacy angle, and hope to make some money from renting the paddocks, think again. It would probably be simpler to ask a local farmer to mow the fields each year to keep them tidy. If the grass is kept in good order he would probably be happy to take a hay crop off them. Don't expect him to pay you. Unless it is a big field and a good crop, he will be doing you a favour keeping everything tidy.

Most people who rent grazing would also like stables, or somewhere to store some hay/equipment etc. You are likely to have people arriving at different times of the night and day, maybe with their own dogs and children, which you may find very disruptive. Unless you find good tenants, which are hard to find, you could end up with untidy fields, full of scruffy horses and no-one actually paying you. My local farmer rents grazing and every year he has people who disappear owing him money.

So think carefully before you buy the property if you want to make money from the fields.

 

[Archangel]

If there is lots of natural shelter (wooded bit, hedge) to act as a wind break then that would be OK. Sheep are great in horse paddocks as they eat all the stuff horses leave. A good guide for horses living out 24/7 is to allow 2 acres per horse. The going rate is £10 - £20pw per horse for grass.

I visit twice a day for about an hour to groom, poo pick, exercise horse, recover the horses from the owner's garden (just kidding ) longer at the weekends. If you get someone who knows what they are doing and are respectful of your property and privacy then it should work very well. It is perfectly reasonable to ask for a deposit, references and stipulate no dogs, no riding in the field, no jumps if it doesn't suit you. You could ask for rent to be paid by standing order, I much prefer this.

If you are away then having someone coming to the house twice a day can be an advantage. Also when you are cut off by the snow (as we have been for the last two years) the horse person is coming anyway so they can bring the milk and vital supplies plus they will always get there whatever the weather.

 

[jonah]

Thanks for the further replies - we are indeed primarily after peace and seclusion which is why this property appeals, so it's not a case of us looking at the paddocks as an investment for income so much as a protective area around the property. On the flip side of course, I believe paddocks are currently priced at £10-20k per acre where we are so there is clearly a rental value to them.... it sounds like if we are very selective about paddock A and have a tight contract then it should provide some income which would contribute towards the maintenance of the grounds and paddock B. If anyone has any further comments or thoughts they would be most welcome (my wife liked the comment about dropping by with milk when we get snowed in, the house is quite remote! )

Meanwhile I guess our ideal for paddock B would be sheep/cattle - does anyone have a tip for how best to find farmers who might want to use this? We are not local to the area so don't know anybody within 10 miles yet! Thanks.