Sorry to ask so much so often but Stable yard requirements?

[Ahrena]

Hopefully we're moving to a house with stables and land.

The problem lies in that the places which have the amount of land, stables and a menage I want/need are in very flat areas which my dad hates (typica!), so I was just wondering a few things so we could possibly widen our search...We've found several properties within our price range (and we certainly aren't millionaires!) but they've all been on the flat places which my dad hates, but I don't want to say how much we can look at...

Would ot be fairly easy to obtain planning permission for stabling/menage in rural areas?
If permission was granted, what sort of price are you looking at for building a 20x40 (or bigger) menage with a decent surface?
What size stable at the smallest is fair for a horse to have? (15.1h+)
How much grazing would you need for 4/5 horses?
How much would it, round about, cost to erect 5 stables + tack and feed room providing you had planning permission?

Thanks, if anyone can answer any of those questions I'd be very grateful.

 

[kerilli]

crikey, it's a bit "how long is a piece of string" tbh. regarding planning permission, it really depends on the exact location, and the local planners. you can have a discussion with a planning officer before purchase, to find out the way they're likely to go on it.
manege - anything from £7k upwards, i'd say, depending on size, drainage required (type of subsoil etc), surface, distance from quarries (can make a huge difference). for a 20x60 with best sand + really good rubber + proper drainage = £25k+ in my experience.
stables, i'd say a minimum of 12'x12' each, grazing at least an acre per horse. for concreting, stable erection, tack and feed room, depending on the quality you choose, i'd say about £5k upwards as a very very rough guide. you can get quotes over the phone from stable manufacturers.
fwiw, i live out in a very flat area and the great thing about it is that it's so safe for hacking (can see something coming a mile away, and drivers can see me!), and that the winds dry the fields out so fast, which is an absolute godsend.
whatever you do, try not to buy somewhere with clay subsoil in the fields. it's a total nightmare with horses.

 

[Ahrena]

Thanks

So I suppose also extending a school would also be very expensive?

We have found a house we all like EXCEPT there are only 3 stables and a tack room but there is a garage right next to it basically as the same building if that makes sense, so we thought we could obtain planning permission we could possibly make the tack room (its 4.4 x 3.2) into a 4th stable then divide the workshop which is 5.5 x 4.4 into another stable and a tack room?

But then the menage is 15x20m which is really a bit small for my horses and it needs resurfacing so we would need to expand that so by what you said for the costs would make doing that very expensive even if half of it is already built..

Thanks very much for your advice

 

[miller]

We looked into extending a current manege when looking to buy (live near Kerilli so still v flat!) and it cost virtually as much to extend a current arena as to build a new one.

We paid £18k for a 20x50 but sand and haulage prices have gone up since then.

Agree on 12x12 - our's including all the concreting came in at about 10k for 4 but handbuilt and much nmore substantial than the flat pack wooden stables.

Fencing for paddocks is also suprisingly expensive and we did that ourselves

Planning as Kerilli said depends enormously on area, view, loaction, vehicular access, neighbouring area and above all Local Councils planning policy for this year - you may be able to get hold of that though

 

[kerilli]

umm, expanding it could be tricky, to get the same feeling underfoot on the new bit. i'd prob use that little one as turnout or lungeing and put a new one in, if it was affordable.
have you thought about mobile field shelters as additional stables? for e.g. i have 5 horses, 3 mobile shelters, and 3 stables. the mobile shelters are about £2k each ish, just to give you some idea. if you have horses you don't want/have to bring in at night, that's another solution.

 

[Ahrena]

Thanks..Hmm I think, to be honest, that house will out out of our price range bearing in mind all the work, it's heading nearer the top bracket but by the sounds of it building the menage will be rather expensive, as will the stables so if we need to do any work on the house plus costs involved in actually moving..

Thanks very much anyway

 

[kerilli]

there's lots of lovely places around here with land...

 

[Ahrena]

It's not me who doesn't like flat land If it was up to me I'd already be living in 1 which is perfect except that it's flat -_-''

 

[Tiffany]

Whereabouts are you? Quite a few properties with land and stables for sale near here. It's a rural , hilly area so your dad would like it!!