Help with unwanted sharers in field.

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wakijaki

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Hi hoping someone can give me some advice on how to get someone out of my field without causing too much upset.
I have a 5 year farm business tenancy on a field local to me. The final year is about to start.
Although my contract stated no subletting I did ask the estate agents to amend it to allow me to share with a friend and this was allowed.
My best friend moved her horse in 4 years ago but it didn't work out as I ended up doing all the work in the field as well as looking after her horse all the time. She never helped out financially or physically and I always had issues with getting money out of her for her share of the rent. No formal agreement was made between us.
In the end it got too much as I was working all the time and never had time to enjoy my horse by the time I'd done all the field chores so I sold my horse.
At that point I still had 2 years left on my tenancy and understand I must give 1 years notice in writing of intention to leave.
My friend had wanted the field for her own since she found out I got it so her husband said they would paid the rent and take it over. Which suited me as it meant her horse could then stay and I didn't have to pay the rent upfront for the year after selling my horse.
She moved a mutual friends horse in the field as company for hers and since that day neither of them have spoken one word to me, in fact the mutual friend deleted me from Facebook.
I had thought that as I'd helped them both out with their horses in the last 6/7 years that they would involve me in some way as they both knew I was devastated to sell mine but it became clear they had what they wanted and I was no longer welcome in the field.
There was a lot of items in the field I then couldn't remove as they were using them, rubber mats, the gates, fencing and the whole water supply system I'd installed. I asked for some money for these items but my friend refused to speak to me and left it up to her husband to talk to me. He told me everything was worthless and I wouldn't be able to get it out of the field anyway.
So a year later the rent was due, I'm very much regretting selling my horse, I'm very upset at the way they have treated me so I've paid the rent for the upcoming year and decided I'm going to look for another horse.
They are not happy about this. She's sent her husband to talk to me in work and try to bully me into signing the field over and now informed me that we can split the cost 3 ways. They have also changed the locks on the gate so I can't get access.
I have absolutely no wish to share with either of them and want them both out.
I've been up to the field to inspect it and it's in a right state, broken fencing left on the ground, weeds everywhere and no pooh picking has been done at all.
So now I just need to know how to get them out the best way possible. Any advice? I'm worried they will go to the estate agent and accuse me of subletting to try to get my contract voided so they can have the field for themselves.
They do have somewhere else to put their horses as there is a livery yard close by with space.
 
Pearlsasinger yes I should perhaps of sorted this out earlier but I've only just decided this is the way forward and I know if they had once again paid the annual rent I would of stood no chance of getting access to the field.
I'm not a bhs member anymore unfortunately
 
You definitely need legal advice, I am not sure I would have paid the next years rent without finding out where I stood, if the place is that bad whether getting a horse and going to the livery yard would not be the most sensible option for numerous reasons, you have the issue of getting them out, putting the place back to how you want it, finding company for the horse you get and the tenancy may not be renewed at the end of this year, especially if there are concerns brought up now.

I would move on and start somewhere without the hassle, it may be the more costly option but getting legal advice may not be cheap as it is a fairly complicated situation, they have been paying so it is not possible to go down the abandonment route.
 
Yes that may well be the case but grazing is in very short supply here and I've worked very hard for 4 years to get the field in good shape.. It won't take much work to put right what they have neglected. And there's a huge financial difference between the cost of the field to livery costs. Also its literally at the end of my street.
Also just being stubborn about being treated so unfairly when I've put so much time and money into the land while they have been too lazy to even do day to day care of their horse and then not to pay me for any of my items
 
Also what they paid last year only covers up to end of this month. That's why I'm not going to want them to pay me anything so then no money has changed hands
 
I'm afraid you need a lawyer. Your house contents insurance might help. Perhaps you could just get your story in first with the estate agents and see if they have any suggestions? If the farmer has any sense tbh he will kick the lot of you off, he seems to have been taken for a ride!
 
Clodagh said:
I'm afraid you need a lawyer. Your house contents insurance might help. Perhaps you could just get your story in first with the estate agents and see if they have any suggestions? If the farmer has any sense tbh he will kick the lot of you off, he seems to have been taken for a ride!
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When I got the field it was completely over run with ragwort, thistles and docks, no fencing on one side, no gates, no water. I've worked for 4 years to clear all the ragwort, fix fencing, and installed water down the whole length of the field. I've not made any money from the field. I shared with a friend as was in my contract and now this has gone sour... I fail to see how I've taken anyone for a ride?
 
wakijaki said:
When I got the field it was completely over run with ragwort, thistles and docks, no fencing on one side, no gates, no water. I've worked for 4 years to clear all the ragwort, fix fencing, and installed water down the whole length of the field. I've not made any money from the field. I shared with a friend as was in my contract and now this has gone sour... I fail to see how I've taken anyone for a ride?
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I was just looking at it from the farmers POV, it's great you have improved the field but it has now been trashed again and he has a tenant and a sub tenant fighting. Assuming it's not a great big piece of land he could well think 'Why bother'. I can imagine my OH thinking that anyway.
 
I get the being stubborn part, I would probably not follow my advice and do the same as you but it could backfire and leave you without a field and thought the easy option needed consideration, I think you need to be upfront with the agents, that should work in your favour but be prepared for them to end the contract with you, it is not going to be bringing them much income so they will not want too much hassle to deal with but it would help if you had them on side and fully in the picture, they may be as stubborn as you and help sort it out.
 
Clodagh said:
I was just looking at it from the farmers POV, it's great you have improved the field but it has now been trashed again and he has a tenant and a sub tenant fighting. Assuming it's not a great big piece of land he could well think 'Why bother'. I can imagine my OH thinking that anyway.
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It is this type of situation that stops a lot of farmers renting smaller plots to horse owners, it can be more trouble than it is worth and easier to leave doing nothing or just pop a few sheep on for a month each year to keep the growth back.
 
Also it's not owned by farmers.. It's in a trust fund so all the owner cared about was that it wasn't used as a livery and the land was well maintained. Granted its been neglected the past year but as I said it wouldn't take me much to sort that out and then rest it.
 
wakijaki said:
Pearlsasinger yes I should perhaps of sorted this out earlier but I've only just decided this is the way forward and I know if they had once again paid the annual rent I would of stood no chance of getting access to the field.
I'm not a bhs member anymore unfortunately
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join. it'll be worth it for the legal advice. you could be in a tricky situation here as your 'friend' has moved someone else in.
 
wakijaki said:
I've been up to the field to inspect it and it's in a right state, broken fencing left on the ground, weeds everywhere and no pooh picking has been done at all.
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wakijaki said:
Yes I do understand that but it won't take me more than 2 weekends of work to fix it all and do the weeding.
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If you reckon that you can fix the fencing, weeds and neglected poo picking in a couple of weekends then the field doesn’t sound to be very neglected, tbh.
 
I don't think you have to be a member of the BHS to contact the legal helpline, but I could be wrong, but your household insurance usually covers legal help as well.

So a) you want to keep renting the field as you want to buy another horse. 2) you have put in a lot of work into the field to make it suitable for horses, as it wasn't when you took it over. 3) your sharer friend didn't work out and left, but they were on the agreement with the letting agent. 4) a second person moved their horses in, they pay no rent to you or the agent and are refusing to move out and their name is not on the agreement.

So the people presently occupying the field are, in fact, tresspassers, but you have allowed them to be there. This is a very tricky situation as people occupying land with no contract can, if it goes on long enough, claim a tenancy by default.

Have you written the horse owners a formal letter, requesting that they move the horses out and leave it as they found it. I doubt they will take any notice, why should they? They have a free field and your options are limited. The owner isn't worried as he is getting rent, you are paying.

I think you need to contact the agent and put in writing everything you did to make the field suitable for your horses, just for the record.

As for getting rid of them - depends on how ruthless you are. I have known farmers in this situation say that they are going to remove gates and fences in X days and to move the animals out, but since you aren't the land owner you can't do that.

I'm sorry, I'm not being much help, I'm just trying to think through the options.

I would send the horse owners a formal letter though, stating that they have no right to be there as there is no contract and they aren't paying rent.
 
I'm slightly confused about who is currently renting the field. You said halfway through your post that when you didn't have a horse, they paid the rent and took it over? But now you have paid the rent despite not currently being on the land? So I'm assuming they paid the money to you, which does mean you were subletting the field rather than sharing it if you weren't currently keeping a horse there. If I were the owner I'd give you all the boot tbh, though luckily for you it sounds like they aren't closely involved. I don't really know how you can get your "friend" off the land without admitting what's been going on to the landowner though. Quite how you explain that you have lost access to land you are supposedly renting I have no idea.
 
Orangehorse said:
I don't think you have to be a member of the BHS to contact the legal helpline, but I could be wrong, but your household insurance usually covers legal help as well.

.
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You do need to be a BHS member to get advice from their legal helpline. It is a service paid for by BHS members, which is available to any member who needs advice, not to all and sundry. One of the first question you are asked when you ring is 'What is your membership number?'
 
Tiddlypom said:
If you reckon that you can fix the fencing, weeds and neglected poo picking in a couple of weekends then the field doesn’t sound to be very neglected, tbh.
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I'm on about doing 4 full days work and I work hard and have helpers so it won't be easy but could be done quickly
 
HashRouge said:
I'm slightly confused about who is currently renting the field. You said halfway through your post that when you didn't have a horse, they paid the rent and took it over? But now you have paid the rent despite not currently being on the land? So I'm assuming they paid the money to you, which does mean you were subletting the field rather than sharing it if you weren't currently keeping a horse there. If I were the owner I'd give you all the boot tbh, though luckily for you it sounds like they aren't closely involved. I don't really know how you can get your "friend" off the land without admitting what's been going on to the landowner though. Quite how you explain that you have lost access to land you are supposedly renting I have no idea.
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Yes I currently have no horse but could easily have one within days on loan. They paid the estate agents direct for last year's rent. No money crossed my hands and no contracts verbal or otherwise were agreed with my friend.
I could regain access by cutting their lock once the rent year is up and I have a farmer willing to lend me some sheep if need be so I have livestock on the land
 
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