suffolksmallholder
Member
- Location
- Suffolk
Unfortunately its the old story, 'not what you know, but who you know!'
IMHO just keep trying. & good luck.
SS
IMHO just keep trying. & good luck.
SS
Council Tennancies
- Thread starter CornishTone
- Start date
borderterribles
Member
- Location
- South Shropshire
When I got my first County Council holding, it was the 60th holding that I'd either enquired about or actually applied for all over the UK, and I think, the sixth time that I'd got as far as an interview. It was back in the days when an ingoing tenant had to pay for the outgoing tenants share of the milk quota, and often at the point of advertising the farm to be let, nobody could actually say how much exactly that might be. I can only say that I am grateful for the fact that there were such a thing as County Farms, as I probably wouldn't have had a chance of having had a farm of my own without them.
Also I would advise anybody who wants one to keep applying, as in my opinion and experience, the main reason that prospective tenants don't get a holding is because they give up trying to get one!
Also I would advise anybody who wants one to keep applying, as in my opinion and experience, the main reason that prospective tenants don't get a holding is because they give up trying to get one!
- Location
- West Suffolk
I believe in Karma.
- Location
- Bedfordshire
Have you spoken to your MP?
I can't really see the point of them anymore? Does it really give anyone a start? The few left around here, seem to have been let to the same people for a long time, so they can't be described at starter farms imo.
Well your all lucky that there is council farms in the area to give the young ones a leg up. There isn't any here and any small tenanted farms that come back on the market immediately get raped by the barley Barron's while the house and buildings are let separately to the non bill paying grass ruining equine community.
Not a chance for the young guns
Not a chance for the young guns
Old Boar
Member
- Location
- West Wales
Tell your friends to see if they can arrange a face to face meeting with the Council, for feedback and "advice" on how they can improve their bid next time. By looking as if you are asking for advice, they may be more amenable to the meeting, and let something slip as to why someone else got the farm. More than likely their faces just did not fit, but you never know, they could find out something helpful.
I get the feeling that the letting process is tick box, and that in a lot of cases , but not all, they already know who the tenant is going to be. I know,from the horses mouth, that some farms have been offered to offspring of current farmers as an incentive to change the old tenancy to an FBT with fixed term date.
This is probably good estate management but IMHO not the idea behind council farms.
This is probably good estate management but IMHO not the idea behind council farms.
You're not the only one to have heard that either, especially if you are talking about in west Norfolk
- Location
- South West
And the cruel bit is most CC's want every applicant to have used a agricultural consultant to help put an application together and in most cases this will cost multiple thousands and for nothing for each failed application.
Also while alot of CC farm's are keep very well I know of some stinkers quite literally where property and farms are very badly damaged and mantaince has been forgotten for years and this is so wrong as these few may possibly ruin future generations of new entrants chances of becoming established farmer's.
County Council farm's are very much a privilege to have and should never be taken for granted as the council's money could support far more family's if used in other ways as this was told to me by an ex CC tenant that used the system to perfection and is now very nicely established through alot of hard work and determination on a privately land lorded farm with his wife and two son's
And the cruel bit is most CC's want every applicant to have used a agricultural consultant to help put an application together and in most cases this will cost multiple thousands and for nothing for each failed application.
Also while alot of CC farm's are keep very well I know of some stinkers quite literally where property and farms are very badly damaged and mantaince has been forgotten for years and this is so wrong as these few may possibly ruin future generations of new entrants chances of becoming established farmer's.
County Council farm's are very much a privilege to have and should never be taken for granted as the council's money could support far more family's if used in other ways as this was told to me by an ex CC tenant that used the system to perfection and is now very nicely established through alot of hard work and determination on a privately land lorded farm with his wife and two son's
Rightly or wrongly we've always done our business plans and budgets ourselves for applications. I think if we went down the cc route again we might get a consultant involved.
It's all well and good getting a consultant in but it's still your business plan so make sure you understand what it's showing. Too many business plans have stupid pie charts and line graphs that mean sod all. A cashflow and P/L in B/W ink that you know like the back of your hand is infinitely more valuable
Completely agree and it's why we've done our own in the past. Just wonder if using a consultant might be looked on favourably?
- Location
- South West
Council policy is to favour applications where a consultant is used in alot of county's for dairying.
I was on a CC holding yesterday with a lovely young couple and last year when they won their tenancy they had used a consultant but the runner up hadn't and that I believe was the deciding factor as it would have been a very close call.
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As it's the tenants and not a consultant that'll be managing the holding I'd like to hear their justification for this.
We've always shown our plans to our bank manager who has then always written a letter to say that they would back us and have given an agreement in principle to any borrowings included in our plans.
And 3 year cashflow and 3 year P/L too. I guess they want to see business development but trying to guess 1 year cashflow can be hassle enough - year 3 you might as well draw numbers out of a hat.
- Location
- South West
I understand there was a case and I believe it was in Somerset that the tenants were in severe financial difficulties and with the consultants helping the farm was pretty much turning a major corner untill the bank decided to foreclose on them and the council then saw this as the way forward.
And why shouldn't they decide that young families need help as it's Council money owing million pound plus farms and ultimately they don't want suicides and bankruptcies to deal with. Like it or lump it as CC farms are not family farms but owned by a government body and that's how they work.
Yeah 3 years worth of p&l and cash flow always included. Like you say by year 3 the numbers are worthless really. We always write a justification for all our figures and sometimes it's as simple as current price plus inflation, at least then you are showing some thought
- Location
- south norfolk