Would people want full livery without an arena?and do you pay business rates on DIY

B

Bluecat

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 January 2011
Messages
277
Visit site
We are looking at a farm at the moment and if we get it are considering doing livery. We would probably just stick to DIY/Part. If its a working farm do we need to pay business rates on DIY livery firstly?Secondly if we did decide on offering full livery do you think people would want if we didnt have a sand school. Although they would be able to ride around the farm and we'd have a schooling field?We hope to eventually put in a school but not for a while. Also with the full livery would you pay more rates?Thanks
 
Any stables that are rented out in any way would attract business rates. The rates are the same whether you offer full, part or DIY livery. If you had a sand school, that would also attract business rates, as do other facilities such as a cross country course.

I think that some people may still be attracted to full livery at your farm if they were mostly into hacking rather than schooling, jumping or competition. However, the lack of a school in the winter would be a problem to many.

Good luck!
 
Hi BC

I am very fortunate, we are going to take on my inlaws small estate within the next few years and we intend to bring it back into work, including resurecting all the old stables and doing livery.
We have decided that we MUST have a school. The competition is so great these days that an all weather/purpose area to ride when the fields are bogged down is essential. My horse is at livery currently and I would not consider a yard without a school.

But then it depends on what part of the country you are in. If you can offer fantastic local hacking then you may attract the hackers.

As for business tax.... that's something I also need to look into but I would assume that you need to be paying tax on every pound that comes through the book
 
For me full livery includes the yard exercising the horse and part livery includes all care of the horse but with no exercise.

If I was after either full or part livery I would definitely want there to be a school.

If I was on DIY I would also want a school but then I enjoy schooling.
 
I've been keeping my horse at a farm where there's no sand school since June. I'm really worried how we'll cope in the winter with limited turn out and no all-weather riding area.

I love the farm, the farmer's great and really horsey (keeps and breeds his own), it's cheap and very near my house. All the same, I'm wondering if I should move her. I'll see how the winter goes.
 
Just be careful with retirement livery - it isn't unknown for someone to move their horse on, pay the bills for a month or two and then vanish leaving you with said elderly horse.
 
Thanks for the warning thats a good point!we would offer all year round turnout so thats not a prob. We do hope to get an arena up in time.
 
i keep mine one a farm, no school but can ride in the field. I saty because we have 24/7 turnout year round if wanted.

For me turnout comes before a school, i couldn't move somewhere with no winter turnout or only a few hours a day
 
Surely any field, no matter how good the drainage, would become a slippery mud patch over the winter? I don't see how you could sustain a schooling area in a field all year round - especially if you have a number of horses being schooled on it.

I would have thought that an all-weather school is an absolute must if you are starting a new livery yard so that you have a good shot at appealing to a wide range of riders and therefore gaining new business, but good luck anyway :)
 
Not having an arena isn't the end of the world, I was at a yard without an arena for approx 10 years and I still managed to ride (and compete) throughout the winter.
If you are providing all year turnout then that makes things a lot better as horses can still stretch their legs.


Good luck with your livery, whatever you decide to do! :)
 
We used to do DIY a few years ago. We didn't have a school. We have lots of land. Before we'd even got planning permission for the yard we had a queue of people asking to be put on the list. We have a flat field that we use for schooling in summer with show,wh and xc jumps. We also have nearby arenas that let people use them (ten mins hack). We don't do DIY anymore - haven't for three years, but have had five people ask if we'd reconsider this year. Our location is fantastic and we have plenty of land. Most of the people asking are coming from yards with schools but not much turnout..

Priior to building my own yard I kept my horse at a DIY/part livery yard that didn't have an arena - turning down yards with arenas in favour of that yard. My reasons - again, good winter turnout, good care of the horses and good hacking location.
 
I live in an area where most yards have very poor turnout which is very restricted in winter. Good turnout is so rare that I gave up all the luxuries of a yard with 3 schools, lunging pen, wash box etc, etc, to slum it on a yard with no proper school - just a summer grass schooling area.
I really miss the facilities of the old yard, but, for me, quality of life for my horses comes before my preferences. We manage by schooling/jumping in summer and hacking in winter. Its not so bad, - the horses keep fit and interested with this system.

So, if you can offer a good and professional service, and taking into account the reduced price due to not having a school, you'll be sure to appeal to some owners.
 
Thankyou so much honey08 and horserider. We could offer riding around the edge of nearly 100 acres all year round and all year turnout. There are lots of schools nearby so will look into whether they will hire them.
 
Good luck with your new venture. There are lots of busy folk out there trying to juggle the demands of work and family with horseownership. Not everyone on full livery wants to ride in a menege, some prefer to mostly hack and some have horses that are semi retired to light hacking, and if you can provide off road riding along with good turnout, there are people who'd snap your hand off.
 
Bluecat said:
We are looking at a farm at the moment and if we get it are considering doing livery. We would probably just stick to DIY/Part. If its a working farm do we need to pay business rates on DIY livery firstly?Secondly if we did decide on offering full livery do you think people would want if we didnt have a sand school. Although they would be able to ride around the farm and we'd have a schooling field?We hope to eventually put in a school but not for a while. Also with the full livery would you pay more rates?Thanks
Click to expand...

Although very likely to have to pay business rates, there may be some rate relief available to an agricultural business as it counts as a diversification business. It used to be 50% for 5 years if the new business had a rateable value of under 6k, but check out with the valuation agency what it would be now.

Only build facilities you will use and people will pay for in their bills, as business rates are based on the facilities, not on whether they are full (stables) or used (arenas). They are payable whether you do DIY or part or full livery. Most people who would pay for full livery would require and expect an arena (not all but most), because by definition they are usually short of time (which is why they want full livery) so wont always have time to go out on a hack, also if it is dark in winter after work they will still want to ride.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top