How much is fair rent???

S

Sullivans Road

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I have 4.5 acres that I'm going to rent out for horses to graze. I'm not into horses myself so I am unsure how much is a fair rent. The land does not have stables or water access.
I have read several postings on the forum but I'm still a little unsure.
Should I charge per horse per week or month, or just a flat annual fee?
 
Depends where you are, whether it has fencing, who will be responsible for maintenance, & the quality of the grazing, drainage etc.
 
Very much depends on location.

I'd go for a contact to let the whole acreage to one person for simplicity.

Round where I am for example, 3 acres with water & 3 old wooden stables (adjacent yard) is currntly let on an annual basis to 1 person, with restriction of 3 equines in total at any one time on the land, for £300pcm. Renter has to maintain all fencing, hedge & buildings.
They had over 20 people respond to the advert last year - all within 24 hours!!

Elsewhere, folk would be expecting to pay far far less than that!
 
I think speaking broadly, if you are charging per horse then you are in effect offering a form of “livery” service in my opinion, even if it is just DIY grass livery. You can therefore charge a higher cost than just renting it out as a field however you would be responsible for maintenance and all associated costs. TECHNICALLY, you should also have public liability insurance in order to offer this “service” .. again, even if you have nothing to do with the horse(s).

If however you rent the field out as a whole for a set monthly/annual rent, this would draw a much lesser rent however the tenant would be responsible for maintenance and all associated costs. It would also be less involvement/hassle for you as the land owner but with it less financial gain and control over day to day matters.

Needless to say, in either case an agreement even if it’s just a casually written one to stipulate who is responsible for what costs is a good idea.

Exact price depends on where you are and the quality of grazing and any nearby hacking, whether there is water in the field … grass livery could be anything from £8-£10 per horse per week upwards to about £20 MAX I would guess? Again it varies hugely on area. For field rent, ask a local farmer for a good rough price. Where I am I am paying £5 a week to rent a field as a whole which is just under 2 acres.
 
Round here (Worcestershire) it's about £200 per acre per year. So 4.5 acres is £900 per year for typical farm tenancy. However as horses take more out of the land it's typically changed at a higher rate. Something like that near to me let for £1800 per year last year (I only know as I just missed out on snapping it up in my local village!)
 
I rented 4 and a quarter acres with no water and no buildings for £200 a year in South Northumberland. It was boggy in parts though but the natural shelter was fantastic.
 
I pay 160 per calender month, water, a stable for storage, mains electric fencing inside a post and rail fence landlord does the maintenance very open and not much shelter and sandy soil so no mud but the grass isnt very good
Suits my natives to a tee
 
I suspect the only way to find out is either talk to a local agricultural agent or advertise it at the top end of all these suggestions and see if you get any reaponse, you can always drop the price if no interest but if you get 50 calls/ offers in the firt 24 hours you'll kick yourself that you priced it too low !
Difficult for anyone who hasn't seen the state of the fencing, quality of the ground, natural shelter and easy of access for delivery of water to give you a good idea.
 
All of the above are very cheap examples. A lot of people would pay more. Bear in mind that horses will poach the land and damage fences a lot more than sheep, for example. We have let land out for a lot cheaper to a sheep farmer than we would to someone with horses.. The sheep farmer had his own tractor etc so he rolled and fertilized the land each year, and the grass looked wonderful..

If you could afford to put some form of field shelter in and storage, plus some way of harvesting the water from the roof, you would have a much more rentable situation.

Someone near us has done this - built a two horse shelter (about 20x12') with a small lockable tackroom at the side and big water butts that the rain runs into. The field is not wonderful, on a steep slope, and there is not electric, and his 4 acres rents for £60/wk. This is in a fairly horsey, reasonably affluent area in the northwest. A similar situation, but with three stables, 5 acres and electric rents for £200pcm.
 
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