WWYD? A landowner/rent related musing

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sophiebailey

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Hi everyone!!

This could turn out to be long, so i'm going to offer my cheese and wine now so as you've got suitable provisions for the ramblings!!

So I rent a field (approx 2 acres, maybe a bit smaller) and one stable (it just about passes as a stable!!) from the landowner and pay £70pcm. I share with another lady who pays £60pcm even though we have exactly the same facilities. (Basically, she hasn't agreed to a rent increase since she moved onto the field a few years ago).

When I moved to the field my rent was also £60pcm. In April, in return for a contribution from the landowner towards the cost of weed spraying and fertilising the ground (I paid £240, he paid £100) I agreed to up my rent to £70. I was then told that my rent wouldn't increase for 12 months, and he printed a little piece of paper showing that I would owe him £70pcm until April 2013. (I'm hoping I can still find it!!)

A few weeks ago, he asked me for £40 so he can buy a new gate for the yard. I've told him I can't afford that at the moment (Bailey's numerous incidents have cost me £2k+ in vets bills since March) and seeing as the gate he wants to replace doesn't serve a purpose (ie - the horses do not access this area of the land, it doesn't provide any security) that I don't think it's necessary to replace it just yet and maybe once I've paid all my vets bill and Christmas is out of the way I can contribute to a new gate. He was quite huffy about this.

Today he's told me my rent must go up again as the people who live at the end of the lane my field is on want to get the potholes in the lane filled and want landowner to contribute to the cost of filling them. (landowner doesn't live at the land, and the lane is an unmade private road so I'm not sure who's responsibility maintenance is, and assume its joint for everyone that owns land on the lane, however most of the land on the lane is farmland that is accessed by tractors, hence big potholes)

He hasn't said how much rent is to go up by, but I feel really annoyed as I was told it wasn't going up until next April, and he actually admitted to me that he needs to charge me more because the lady I field share with wont agree to have her rent put up, so he needs to charge me more to bridge the gap.

I'm also feeling really annoyed as the lady I share with very rarely does any maintenance jobs, I do the lions share of the poo picking and fence maintenance, I've invested a fair bit of my money buying hard standing for the boggy areas of the fields and buying fencing for the areas where the old fencing needed replacing, or where there wasn't any. I hay her horse every night for her (but I don't begrudge her this as I do offer to do it) I pay to have the field fertilised/weed sprayed and she contributes very little to the cost (£40 out of a £340 bill) and I collect all of our hay for her ..... I sometimes feel like I'm running our little yard and yet i'm being asked to pay more money despite pouring it into the field to make the facilities nicer.
**this isn't anything negative against the lady I share with as she's actually really nice, just trying to paint a picture of how much I do around the yard without being under any real obligation to**

Obviously if he says my rent is going up then there's not a lot I can do about it as I have no written contract, it's all cash in hand. If you were in my situation, would you feel unjustly treated? I'm struggling to make ends meet at the moment so a price increase wouldn't be ideal. Landowner keeps quoting what other livery yards in the area charge at me, but this isn't a livery yard. It's a small field with rotten fence posts and dodgy stables. I have no facilities other than a stable and running water. I maintain everything and buy everything.

Don't mean this to sound woe is me-esque, but before I choose my plan of action I just wondered if you thought I was being spoilt or if it wasn't really fair.

Phew! All done :) hope you enjoyed the cheese and wine :p:p
 
So how come she gets to refuse to up the rent but you have to and in addition pay all the extras as well?? Used and abused, taken p*ss out of are things that come to mind. Sorry but I would refuse and start looking around for an alternative just incase things get sticky. If you share then it should be equal.
 
Frankly I would be raking the other field user aside for a coffee and a word

I presume they like you have no contract? If so I would stress how much more you contribute to the situation and gently guilt trip them in to taking on some of the burden

I don't pay much more than you for sole use of three acres, a stable block and hay store and my field is on a fully maintained private road
 
Hiya, Im in a very similar situation to you. I sub rent 2 acres of a lovely lady, both our horses live out happily together but facilities wise all we have is two grotty stables and runnkng water. We have rigged up our own lighting running off a car battery (which im incredibly proud of!) And maintain all our grazing and fences ourselves. I am happy to do this as myself and other lady have the same priorities and split everything 50/50. As to the pot hole situation, IMO I would have thought that if you are paying rent it is the LO job to maintain the road etc as it is HIS road.
 
I think he might be a bit scared of her. She just says no and he says ok. She's not a scary lady at all so no idea.

When he babbles on to me about rent increase I just say I can't afford any more at the moment and then he'll leave me for a few weeks and then start asking for more money again. I'm worried if I protest too much he'll tell me to leave.

I don't like to guilt trip her into doing more jobs as she's a mum of 3 or 4 and doesn't drive so struggles to get to the yard. She doesn't have much time when she's at the yard so tends to ride and go home, i'd feel bad if she felt like she had to do jobs and miss out on riding because I was being a moany moo. I know i'm a door mat but I don't want to create bad feeling. I very rarely see her to be honest as we come up at very different times so wouldn't know when to catch her to talk to her about it :(
 
Goldenstar said:
Can you find an alternative ?
Click to expand...

I'm on the waiting list for a local DIY yard but am hesitant to move anywhere else in the interim as my horse stresses very badly when he changes environments and I don't want him to colic as a result (he's had a few bouts this year). A lot of his "friends" are on this yard and we go there at least twice a week to either use the school or hack out with his friends so he's quite familiar with the yard. That's where I want him to be and hopefully there should be a stable for us after Xmas. *Fingers crossed!!*
 
Enjoying a glass of wine:)

Your situation is unusual, you are not really renting a field as you have someone sharing it who also pays the landowner, you do general maintenance but he seems to have a say in what gets done and when. Yet you are not really a livery either in which case everything regarding fencing etc would be down to the owner, I certainly dont think you should be paying towards pothole filling, even by stealth methods such as a rent increase, fine if you had facilities that were maintained and if you both paid the same rent.
I think I would look for either a field to rent or move to a livery yard were you may pay a little more but you will not keep getting stung by unexpected expenses.
 
Sorry, messaging off my phone is awfull! The way i see it, is if you were renting a house and the boiler broke, its the landlords job to fix it. I think hes being veru unreasonable and you should let the other lady know shes getting an easy ride and should put her hand in her pocket ( preferably worded better!)
 
Yes you are being treated very unfairly. How you deal with this I'm not sure but if it were me I think I'd offer to take over the lease of the field and pay him annually, then sublet to the other lady yourself. This way the man has money in one lump sum and as it's an annual thing you'd be secure for each year.
 
It sounds to me like you are being taken for a mug by both your landlord and field mate.
In my opinion fences, gates and track maintenance are the landowner's responsibility, not the tenants, you should not have to contribute to the cost of these, unless it was your horse that broke it in the first place. Field maintenance/spraying, well that's more up to you than the landlord, so I think you need to agree in advance with your field mate in future what she pays.

Or, you find somewhere else and don't have to put up with the grasping landlord and field mate situation that you appear to have going on at the moment. Sometimes, you get what you pay for, and if you pay a bit more it actually can work out cheaper in the long run. Certainly it's not fair that you do the lions share of the work and pay more for the priviledge.

Then perhaps you should consider that agricultural rates for land are about £80/acre per YEAR, OK, you would have to do all maintenance for that, but I think you can work out the point I am making...
 
As a YO (DIY) I'm totally horrified by this. Basically agree with poster above.

As landowner it is the YO's responsibility to undertake all maintenance; the only time I would expect the livery to pay anything is if their horse broke through a fence or whatever, or say damaged a stable door - and then we would sit down and discuss rather than issuing an edict.

For E.g. I have paid for the fields to be drained & hardcore put in the gateways, plus all fencing; plus recently put in a new water tank & updated the water system; organised & paid for the hedges to be trimmed; and organised disposal of muck-heap; and so on and so forth.

OP I think you are being taken for a ride mega by both your landowner and your fellow sharer. But alas, you unfortunately have not got a contract in place - so really don't have a leg to stand on TBH.

Personally I think you have subsidised your landowner plus field-sharer enough. They are both taking the P!ss big-time out of you and I think you would be best advised to find yourself another field/yard ASAP. And for goodness sake make sure you sign a contract BEFORE you move your horse in!!!

Sorry meant to include a price-guide: my livery pays £100 a month for her three horses/ponies. For this she gets year round turnout & use of three acres (sub divided) with mains water - which her horses have exclusive use of. She also gets a spacious loose-box and room to store her hay & feed, plus a lockable tack-room. In the summer she can use part of her "bit" to use as an arena. She is also permitted to park her lorry here (no charge made for this). I live on-site and can on request (no extra charge) be present for vet/farrier if owner cannot attend.
 
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Were you spraying it with gold dust??? It costs me 45 to tractor spray 5 acres and a bottle of whisky to fertilise it. Is he taking the money of you for those jobs or are you paying the contractor?
 
Thanks everyone. I feel better knowing now that I'm not just being a princess and will stand my ground.

Ffion I paid the paddock man directly, he had to hand spray everything as the tracks not big enough for tractor access, and we had to use a shed load of spray + fertiliser as it had NEVER been done before and was in a diabolical state! :(
 
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