Opinions please - buy or build your yard??

If your horse is 3-4 years old (and backed) does he/she have a white patch on his/her back?


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bugsysmum

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Hi everyone and belated Happy New Year!
I'm on the verge of making a very happy but seriously scary decision to sell my house and buy with my OH. Which would mean we could buy a place with land and our own stables! **swoons with excitement** BUT, having started to look around, the option arose as to whether it would be better to buy the house with land and build the yard and school, or to buy the complete package done and dusted. Pros and cons each way I know, but if any of you have done this one way or the other, could I have your opinions / recommendations please? And for those who have built, how long did it take? (Would only be approx 5 stables and 20 x 60 outdoor school). How long does planning permission take to come through?
Thanks in advance
xx
 

miller

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We started off looking at the compelted package but we found he ones with lovely stables/school had falling down houses and vice versa, also alot were not laid out particularly well.

We ended up buying a place totalling 5 acres (4 acres of field which was plough at the time) and built the yard/school exactly where we wanted it - would definitely go that way again although be prepared for the minefield of Planning Permission and things not being done as quick as you'd expect.

We moved in in the Feb (been there 2 years at end of feb) and the horses came home mid August that year. The inbetween months were manic juggling horses (further away), work and doing up house/yard and obviously there were extra months of livery bills to take into account. My horse was stabled 25 miles from where we moved to, didn't want to move him nearer to new house just to move again very quickly so on weekends we were doing 100 miles each day to go down and sort him in morning and evening. Was better in the week as was only 7 miles out of the way on the way to work but it was still a hard slog.

We love it though and wouldn't change anything.
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Lordy100

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We bought house with land and built yard. Planning: make sure you read all the paperwork twice if not three times, get all the right maps, plans etc photocopied so that you can send them in. Make sure you have details of how you are going to dispose of muck heap. Also remember that you will have to apply for change of use on the land agricultural to leisure. If you want lights on your school that could be a problem. If you don't have any objections to your plans and they are accepted straight away it should go through in about 6 - 8 weeks. However, if you do have rejection remember they will try and charge you again.
 

MizElz

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Would always build own! (Particularly seeing as I have a very talented OH who has built me a lovely little yard!)

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reynold

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would avoid the build your own yard due to the planning minefield - you have a 50:50 chance of getting what you want - which means a 50% chance of getting refused PP.

buy something that has the stuff you need - once it's there you can always apply for PP to rebuild/add/modify which is easier to get
 

Skhosu

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I would look at both options. Buying means you can move straight in. Could you buy a slightly run down one and do it up? We built and now there are some things we'd change but we have a massive barn with an aisle you can tie up in whih is a godsend, hate the ones with narrow aisles, but would now give tehm grilles between (solid concrete). What sort of yard would you be building?
 

Tia

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We built our previous yard. I'd say if you can find one already done then you will pay less for it than if you have to build it yourself. Ours was expensive to build.
 

bugsysmum

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Thanks all - there's so much to think about!
Ok, so I'd probably need somewhere I can move the horse into immediately - which would mean at least stables up already.
It's only going to be a small yard with about 5 boxes so may be possible to add on to.
Does anyone think that would be an easier option with the planning permission i.e. if the stables were there already, would that make it easier to get pp for an outdoor school?
Thanks again!
 

Llwyncwn

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We bought an ex-dairy farm and converted it. Planning went through smoothly apart from the school which took longer than expected. OH is in the building trade and we converted a 36 cow-tie into our first stable block. We chose to develop our own yard due to the amount of land we were buying with it. I honestly dont think we could have afforded a ready made yard with lots of acreage at that time.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
 

catembi

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We kind of did half & half. Bought a house with 2 1/2 acres & 6 stables in Aug 2005 & had a school built in Dec 2007.

Planning can be quite quick as there is often a stipulation that they have to give you a decision within 8 weeks. The form is v v thick & the qs don't make sense so I went to see the planners & one of them went thru it with me line by line saying what to put & which bits to fill in. They also want 6 copies of the form & a diagram of the area. You can get planning maps on the internet. You need 6 copies of each of 2 different scales. Mine cost around £45.

We had to have cushionride cos the planners wanted us to. Also the planners said that you will hardly ever get planning for lights, so we didn't bother & got site lights on tripods ie fully moveable.

Hope this helps?
 

Pinkwellies2

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One option could be to look for property with land that has planning permission already. My Father in Law is selling his house and field and he has already got planning permission for some stables and i think a store. He was going to build himself but unfortunately horse had to be pts last year and they have now decided to move but apparently planning permission will still apply
 

Vicki_Krystal

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we are looking at the same thing.
we have decided that we will buy somewhere where its lacking in horsey facilities / in need of repair facilities to avoid the planning minefield.
at least we will have somwhere to live and gee gees can live in temp stables until their proper palace is ready!!
 

OWLIE185

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Getting planning pemission can be quite tricky and my advice would be to use a local surveyor who frequently deals with the local planning department.

If the land is still zoned as agricultural then planning permission to equestrian use for your own private use can take from 3 months upwards from the date the planning application is put in.
 

miller

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To be honest we had no real problems with our PP - we applied for stables and arena and was fine straight away, then applied for lights 8 months own the line and was granted 1st time. we did not use any surveyors etc but it does depend on local authority - personally would not pay for someone to help.

PP rules now stipulate 8weeks to decision (government thing)

Where abouts are you looking at? I know of somewhere near me with 5 acres with PP for stables/arena and lots more in our area already done? Maybe someone will know of something
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Magicmillbrook

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We are looking to move too. we are moving from a small house with a quite nice yard, poor areana and not much land, but rented land just up the road. We have two propeties in mind.

Property 1 has just the right amount of land, 2 stables that would require repairing and extending and rubbish fencing, also the land and stable are separated from the house by a farm yard, the house is nice but not much bigger than our present house. Property no 2 has and acre less land (we could just manage), no stables or fencing but is in a nicer location, the land is around the house and house is much bigger.

I have looked into costs and it doesnt look like it will be much more to build a yard from scratch than reparing and extending an existing one. Fencing and meanage are another matter though - best of luck to you, if you havent bought a house before it will be an eye opener!
 

PennyJ

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Writing with my District Councillor hat on, I would suggest you try and have an informal chat with the relevant local council's planning department first regarding any specific property to see if they would be amenable in principle to allowing permission for stables etc BEFORE you fall completely in love with the place then find out you can't get permission for what you want.

Personally, if I had the money to do what you're planning, I would buy a tumbledown house with nice stables, put a mobile home on site and fix up the house. In my area at least, it's easier to do things that way.
 

irishdraught

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We moved 2 years ago and would never have been able to afford something with stables already there.

OH built stable block but the planners couldn't understand why a private person would need 6 stables and were convinced we were a business. At the time we had 5 horses and a shetland. We have reduced our stock now but have loads of storage space for hay etc.

We are in an area of outstanding natural beauty and had to go with a particular roof but it was so worth it. Built for a fraction of the cost of buying, got our house cheaper and have increased the value!!
 
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