Horse Farms Available Near London?

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azamansky@gmail.com

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Hi there,

I am an American, my husband was recently offered a position in London and I was wondering whether it is possible & feasible to buy a small (8 - 12 acre) horse farm within an hour's commute of London? Are properties like that available that close to the city? We have 5 horses and he will not take the position if we can't bring them with us. Thanks!

Andrea
 
you should easily find something for sale within an hours commute of London but prices won't be cheap and they sell quickly. Would be a good idea to get in touch with one of the many specialist equine property companies out there such as Equus. There are plenty of estate agents that specialise in rural/ equine properties surrounding London covering Kent, sussex and Surrey as well as the other side of London.
 
I used Ruralscene when we bought a similar property in Surrey. My OH travels into London from Woking station which takes about 30-35mins. Anywhere around Guildford, Surrey is a reasonable commute to London and Pelhams and Churchills Equestrian Properties both cover this area. It's not the cheapest area by a long shot but nice and easy for airports and London. Good luck.
 
azamansky@gmail.com said:
Hi there,

I am an American, my husband was recently offered a position in London and I was wondering whether it is possible & feasible to buy a small (8 - 12 acre) horse farm within an hour's commute of London? Are properties like that available that close to the city? We have 5 horses and he will not take the position if we can't bring them with us. Thanks!

Andrea
Click to expand...

We like your husbands priorities Andrea! He sounds like a keeper! Good luck with finding a property, agree with the previous posters about Surrey, also check out Hertfordshire as Journey times into the city can be faster. some national agents cover - eg Strutt and Parker, Savills, Fine and Country.
 
What sort of budget do you have? You are looking at a lot of bucks if you want to be an hour away from London. Where would your OH be based exactly? I would suggest you find out the nearest mainline station to his office and work from there - it may be that you could live quite far out in one of the less expensive counties (there is nothing cheap!) if he can get a fast, direct train that drops him close to his workplace.
 
Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions! That is very helpful in figuring out whether this will be a possibility for us. As far as prices go, we may well be priced out of the market in the London area, not sure.... In the US we might expect to pay anywhere between US $700,000 to US $1,100,000 for a finished, move-in-ready horse farm (480,000 - 700,000 pounds sterling per the online converter).... Does that price range strike you as feasible or too low for the London area? With much gratitude, Andrea
 
You would struggle to get something with the acreage and in a decent area around Guildford for that budget. If you look at the agents others have listed above, they all have good online search facilities which should give you a better idea of what is around. If you can get hold of this week's Horse & Hound, they have an equestrian property special issue with lots of different agents in. Good luck!
 
I'm very interested in buying a similar sized plot around Woking as its got excellent commuter links. I've spent about a year (or more!) keeping a regular eye on the market and sadly I think its the most expensive place around london to buy land! I think the minimum you'd need for that area is £1.2/£1.3m and that probably won't get you as much land as you are looking for.

There are however lots of other areas that are significantly cheaper!! Kent and Essex are much better value for money and there are plenty of lines that could get you into London in an hour.

Do you know where your husband will be based in London? That'll make a huge difference to where you should buy as it can easily add 30-45mins to a commute if you need to cross London!

Best sites to look at are http://www.commutefrom.com/ which allows you to see where you can live within a specified commute from your work. Also I find http://www.uklandandfarms.co.uk/ to be a good website for looking at houses. It'll give you an idea of budgets.

Hope that helps :)
 
Some options to give you an idea - although the 1 hour would of course depend on where in London your husband would be working. I've tried to go in all directions but I think you'd be looking at about 5 acres for the top of that range. West of London (along the M4 motorway) would be considerably more money. I haven't found anywhere in that price range unless you go quite a bit further along the M4.

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/clas...tition-base-for-sale-charing-kent-395907.html

Although the one above is a fair way out to drive, the High Speed Rail link would mean a 40 minute train journey - you would of course have to add the home - train and train - office onto that time.

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/clas...brentwood/3-stondon-hall-cottages-399082.html

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/clas...trian-home-convenient-for-the-a12-388974.html

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/clas...nghamshire/a-refurbished-bungalow-364155.html

http://www.equestrianproperty4sale..../Greatham/Greatham-Lane/EP4S06USA1199RMP.aspx

http://www.pskrural.co.uk/PSM/pskpsm.nsf/0/BAD1A764C1C45D2E80257BBA005D7047
 
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Look also in Bedfordshire around the Luton area, trains from Luton Parkway are about 30-40 mins into London and there should be some decent equestrian property around. Remember to factor in the cost of rail travel (which really isn't cheap in the UK) into your budgeting.
 
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