Renting land

BlueSocks

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 May 2013
Messages
128
Visit site
Hi I am hoping to find some land to rent for my horses, I want to be able to do my own thing and look after the kand etc myself. Who does or has done this? I wondered how much you pay and for how much land ie not per horse I mean an actual rental / lease agreement. Have you been allowed to put a shelter on the land etc? What have been the pros and cons? Many thanks.
 

WelshD

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 October 2009
Messages
7,973
Visit site
I rent a three acre field for £100 a month. It has a smart red brick stable block (2 stables 1 half size store) and a hay store.

The fencing wasn't great but I had the worst parts repaired and the field split in two for £500

I have put up chicken runs, reinstated a pig pen, put a caravan 'tea room' on the field all ok'd by the owner who is wonderful

I look after the land carefully and pay my rent without fail and he let's me get on with things

The maintenance can be pricey sometimes as you are penalised for the small area - sending out a tractor to top the field for example has more or less the same overheads as topping 20 acres

Fencing can be costly and an ongoing project

Every now and again I wonder whether it would be nice to share a yard with someone but then I think again lol
 

BlueSocks

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 May 2013
Messages
128
Visit site
Wow that sounds amazing value - obviously you have to factor in maintensnce but i suppose its a fair comparison for the cost of livery. Not worried about being on my own as I am anyway at the mo - & I love it!!
 

noodle_

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 October 2010
Messages
5,084
Location
Earth...
Visit site
good luck!! here its like gold dust!.....

id love my own field again - saddo i am love dividing up fields and rotating :D lol.
 

WelshD

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 October 2009
Messages
7,973
Visit site
I guess the value of it depends on what you use it for - I have a whole smallholding on my field which enables me to have 'free' meat, eggs and veg so it's not just the value of having it as pony grazing which in itself is a good deal

Like I said the land owner is a diamond for letting us run away with ourselves from having three sheep at the start!
 

Pipkin

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 July 2010
Messages
1,460
Visit site
Me and OH rent two small holdings.

Smallholding number 1 his dad lives at and we just use the land for hay will get approx 1400 bales off it this year and sell 800 of them.

The smallholding we live at, we have a seperate land tenancy so we pay £50 a month for 20 acres, 17 is grazing 3 woodland, we have 4 dutch barns, a hay barn, 6 stables and a kennel block as well a svarious cow pens etc.
We can do what we want as long as we take care of the land, we have it harrowed and rolled twice a year, spray for buttercups and have hedges cut too. £7 per acre to spray, think it's £20 to do all the hedges and approx £50 for harrow and rolling 17 acres. Hopefully getting a quad so can do everything ourselves.

Should get approx 500 bales off the one field we keep for hay so the bales will pay for all maintenance and up keep
There are no cons for me at all.
 

BlueSocks

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 May 2013
Messages
128
Visit site
These are the kind of set ups I want - I dont need luxury I just really want to take care of things myself & be in control. Never thought about adding othrt animals like sheep, chickens etc but actually would love that, so would my OH. Welsh D, was your land advertised or did you approach the land owner?
 

3Beasties

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 September 2008
Messages
15,574
Visit site
I rent a 6 acre plot split into 3 paddocks. There are 3 stables (although one is used as the tack room) and 3 field shelters. I also get use of some barn space for hay and a yard cat :p The fields are well fenced and the place is kept tidy. I'm allowed to ride on their 6 acre adjoining field too that has a couple of xc jumps in.

Since being there (3 months) I have only used one paddock, the other two paddocks will have hay taken off them so for the first time ever I will not have to buy hay or haylage in this winter. Last Winter cost me £17 a week so that is a big saving already.

The owners help with maintenance (strimming over grown bits, moving muck heap etc) and are around a far bit but they try not to interfere and just leave me to it.

I pay £50 a week (£216 per calendar month) and that is based on two horses and a pony.
 

zaminda

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 August 2008
Messages
2,333
Location
Somerset
Visit site
I have rented land for a while now, my last place was £200 for 15 acres, the current set up is £250 for around the same amount of land, possibly a bit more, and use of school and somewhere undercover to tie up. My friends pay about £200 for 5 acres plus some stables, they do everything themselves, and she runs a business from there too, think she saw hers advertised in a tack shop, whereas I knocked on a door!
 

WelshD

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 October 2009
Messages
7,973
Visit site
It's just behind my house, the last renter left and it became overgrown. Being naturally very impetuous I decided despite having no prior experience of them I wanted some sheep! Everything escalated pretty rapidly from there. If it all ends tomorrow we will have had a whale of a time and not a single regret.

I door knocked until I found someone who knew the owner
 

BlueSocks

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 May 2013
Messages
128
Visit site
Wow i am actually quite surprised & pleased at how cheaply you are all renting land, specially those of you with stables on too. How long are your leases? I thought that a decent long lease would be something that would appeal to a landowner?
 

3Beasties

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 September 2008
Messages
15,574
Visit site
Wow i am actually quite surprised & pleased at how cheaply you are all renting land, specially those of you with stables on too. How long are your leases? I thought that a decent long lease would be something that would appeal to a landowner?

Mine is a 12 month contract.
 

WelshD

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 October 2009
Messages
7,973
Visit site
Mine is a rolling contract. At the start we asked for a guaranteed stay of at least 12 months though because of the outlay on the fencing
 

Gypley

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 August 2012
Messages
586
Visit site
Wow ! I think I'm being robbed! Myself and friend pay £500 PCM for 5 stables, 5 acres an old block of stables we use for storage and a woodchip school. We have electric which we pay for separately too.
Our fencing is pretty shoddy and the land had not been looked after previously.
 

St.Sibert

Member
Joined
15 April 2013
Messages
20
Location
Sunny East Kent
Visit site
Gypley - the clue is your location viz Kent.
I paid a similar amount but unfortunately had a fickle landlord and gave up with the hassle and endless maintenance costs. Sadly some landowners see how keen we are and see it as a way to get the property revamped - we even re-surfaced the school!
 

Gypley

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 August 2012
Messages
586
Visit site
I think your absolutely spot on. Area is everything. Where we are doesn't have particularly great hacking. But it is a very horsey area and land is at a premium. However we have invested a lot of time and effort into the place!
 

mandwhy

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 July 2008
Messages
4,589
Location
Cambridge, UK
Visit site
I pay annually the equivalent of 35 a month for two acres with water, good hedge shelter and a storage shed. Its pretty good land as it doesn't get too muddy, I have one horse and a pony. Getting the people to sort out fencing and the like is a constant palarver but I suppose it is better than having to pay for it ourselves, and I've seen a lot worse! Pretty damn cheap compared to livery yards but the hacking is pretty average. I love it though!

Would absolutely love a smallholding one day, keeping my eyes peeled :)
 

Hoopsa

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 April 2013
Messages
106
Visit site
Sorry to be a bit of a kill joy here..... I learnt the hard way with leasing grazing. Basically I took on some neglected land with the promise that I could renew the lease for as long as I liked. So I invested a lot of time and money improving the grazing and fencing, building stables and sheds, putting in land drains, water and electricity. In fact it was so much better that the owners decided they wanted to keep horses on it themselves and I had to leave. Looking back I was naive. At my next place I made sure the contract was watertight and I did not pay for improvements I couldn't take with me like electric fencing. It is wonderful to have your own place but do take care.
 

Gypley

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 August 2012
Messages
586
Visit site
Hoopsa, your so right! It's very easy to get carried away when you have 'your own' land. When we took over our place it was a dump, but we haven't made any improvements we can't take with us. We agreed with the land owner for him to lay concrete and we have the stables a bit of tlc (a jet was and paint with £5 tubs from wilkinsons) and that's made the place look a million times better. Our fencing is awful but we run electric a meter from the fence line. I'm certainly not lining the owners pockets if he ever decides to get rid of us! He's a really lovely guy though and I think he's pleased someone's trying to take a bit of pride in the place.
 
Top