Splitting a 90 acre field into 45 x 2 acre fields

4course

Member
Location
north yorks
I can see there would be more money in it but if it was me I’d just sell it and let them get on with it can’t think of much worse than 45 plus tenants squabbling over who’s plants grown over who’s fence etc
possibly much better than trying to sell basic commodities to 2 or 3 buyers for a profit when their business model is buy the cheapest
 

HolzKopf

Member
Location
Kent&Snuffit
@Nearly has called it it will look like a shanty town
Agree, and you could keep one plot and set up a shop (sorry, I mean a 'store' :() that sells blue alkathene pipe, old pallets, cavaletti poles, IBCs, ragwort plug plants in plastic pots, thistles, and old bits and pieces of second-hand electric fence. Think of the carbon that would be saved by the inhabitants not having to truck it in......:whistle:

HK
 

Mur Huwcun

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North West Wales
Agree, and you could keep one plot and set up a shop (sorry, I mean a 'store' :() that sells blue alkathene pipe, old pallets, cavaletti poles, IBCs, ragwort plug plants in plastic pots, thistles, and old bits and pieces of second-hand electric fence. Think of the carbon that would be saved by the inhabitants not having to truck it in......:whistle:

HK

And the £50 a plot to power harrow it each spring….
 

4course

Member
Location
north yorks
Agree, and you could keep one plot and set up a shop (sorry, I mean a 'store' :() that sells blue alkathene pipe, old pallets, cavaletti poles, IBCs, ragwort plug plants in plastic pots, thistles, and old bits and pieces of second-hand electric fence. Think of the carbon that would be saved by the inhabitants not having to truck it in......:whistle:

HK
i realise the above post is taking the mick or whatever but there is many a true word spoken in jest. we as land holders wether tenants or owners should see that there are earning possibilites to be had other than basic commodity production
 

HolzKopf

Member
Location
Kent&Snuffit
i realise the above post is taking the mick or whatever but there is many a true word spoken in jest. we as land holders wether tenants or owners should see that there are earning possibilites to be had other than basic commodity production
I agree, we should all look at how to earn a realistic return on our investments but I have yet to see land that's closeby to a town that's split into paddocks come to anything other than a mess.

The 'Good Life' that the OP mentions is generally a temporary reaction to some work/life dissatisfaction or other, like a lockdown dog, enforced family 'country walks' and now camper van travels. We've all seen what's happened over the last eighteen months and how the early 'rush to the country' is now waning
Changes to agricultural land are generally permanent and I do accept that we do need to have incredibly strong principles when there are many out there who have 'office-based' salaries who are able and willing to pay top dollar for land when its purpose and existence has little respect from the very Government departments that are now banging the drum on fast food, salt, sugar, sustainability and food miles.

I've seen a large field near here plus 20 acres of woodland sold off at auction by a daughter whose elderly parents that used to work it could obviously now do with the money. The land is divided up into say 15 plots, the auction particulars showed computer images of cars, houses and leisure pursuits. The reality has been a running battle between the purchasers and the local authority and there is much unpermitted structures and 'mess' to be frank, still being dealt with. There are internal fences of all shapes and sizes from neat sheep netting to post and rail to flimsy B&Q panels. There's an inflatable pool, garden chairs, garden flowers and leylandii hedges. The verges of the lane that runs parallel were a total muddy mess, now baked hard and internal strife over 'access' has resulted in owners erecting stand-alone internal field gates and keep-out, keep-off and 'trespassers will-be' signage. A couple of them have battery CCTV cameras on poles and trees.

I don't know what the answer is in a free country that has bred a couple of generations of folk that feel 'entitled' - but what I do know is when you look up 'agriculture' in the dictionary 'food' is inextricably linked to the definition. And I agree that the need to look at other income streams is necessary for our survival. But we have binned much of our industrial heritage and do need to be careful about our squandering of land. The OP's plan is just a pimple so he can't carry the can for the disease of Government and the many that disrespect farming but it's yet another symptom of it, that's for sure

HK
 

D14

Member
Just pondering
I have a 90 acre field on the Urban Fringe
( if planning isn’t favourable for more lucrative uses)
What would stop me splitting into 45 x 2 acre fields and selling each one individually

there seems loads of new people on here wanting to buy an acre or two for the Good Life.
say £40k per 2 acre plot
Sell/transfer all on the same day to avoid being stuck with a few
??

Thats cheap. If I was you I would advertise 10 acres at one end of it in 1 acre plots at £40,000 each and then do a deal if somebody wants 2 acres. Once you've sold them do another 10 acres and you will find people might just start coming to you directly.
A paddock locally has just sold for £80,000 with no potential for building on it due to its location. It is only 1.2 acres in size and there is no mains elec or water to it and it lies very wet in the winter months. It seems covid has made everybody want their bit of the countryside away from the cities and towns. Any houses in rural locations are selling for over the asking prices at the minute. My mums family have just sold a 10 acre small holding with a bungalow in desperate need for renovation for £1.3 million. A realistic valuation pre covid was £850,000. It went on the market and they had had 20 offers within 48 hours. Again no planning potential as my mims family have been down that route with local planners to see if there was any future possibility. Theres even a 50% uplift clause in the sale for 99 years just in case planners change. I've a house in the local village that has gone up by £100,000 in the last 18 months. People are just going crazy for rural living irrelevant of the costs involved.
 

Overby

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
South West
How far have you followed up? Got some similar ideas myself.

Is there anything planning wise to consider ie multiple accesses to one site?
 
Last edited:

Overby

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
South West
I've been thinking about this a lot. We have a 25 acre field with good access. Ideally we wouldn't sell but, as stated above, we have thought about it due to the sheer uplift in value on small plots.
With the way the leisure industry is going though I'm having a few different ideas, similar to what has been mentioned further back in this thread without being delved into.

Has anyone looked into dividing fields up, possibly with trees / hedges etc so there's numerous 'private' 1 acre plots and then leasing the plot out for a decent (huge?) amount for x number of years?

Leased / rented as agric use so people can technically enjoy their own piece of the countryside, with rules and regs set out in the agreement.

The whole field is hidden behind trees so it's one enclosed block and can't be overseen/

There must be some mileage in this, just wondering if anyone has explored ?
 
I've been thinking about this a lot. We have a 25 acre field with good access. Ideally we wouldn't sell but, as stated above, we have thought about it due to the sheer uplift in value on small plots.
With the way the leisure industry is going though I'm having a few different ideas, similar to what has been mentioned further back in this thread without being delved into.

Has anyone looked into dividing fields up, possibly with trees / hedges etc so there's numerous 'private' 1 acre plots and then leasing the plot out for a decent (huge?) amount for x number of years?

Leased / rented as agric use so people can technically enjoy their own piece of the countryside, with rules and regs set out in the agreement.

The whole field is hidden behind trees so it's one enclosed block and can't be overseen/

There must be some mileage in this, just wondering if anyone has explored ?

Sounds like a huge headache to me.

You can’t do anything with ag land but ag. Buyers won’t care even if they know.

In 5 yrs you will have sheds, tracks and other parafanalia on site with multiple enforcement notices sent out.

If you are going to do that, sell it and take the money.
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
I believe the law was changed a few years back regarding this sort of thing after a fair number of people getting scammed.
I. Believe you will need planning to split it less than five acres, may be more
 

Agrivator

Member
A bit optimistic in finding 45 buyers to transfer all on the same day, especially given how many solicitors you would be dealing with.

Other than that I think access and services would be the biggest issue

Why not find a Solicitor/Conveyancer who can act for all parties - even free of charge.
 

D14

Member
Just pondering
I have a 90 acre field on the Urban Fringe
( if planning isn’t favourable for more lucrative uses)
What would stop me splitting into 45 x 2 acre fields and selling each one individually

there seems loads of new people on here wanting to buy an acre or two for the Good Life.
say £40k per 2 acre plot
Sell/transfer all on the same day to avoid being stuck with a few
??

Had a similar idea a few years ago and looked into it properly. Access is the main problem because a 2 acre plot 200m away from he field gateway with no driveways to it is nigh on worthless to anybody other than a gypsy. To put driveways all over it to access each plot means planning permission so we never went any further because you are changing the use. I have a friend who's land backs onto a 1200 metre stretch of houses which subsequently front to a main road - so basically the houses are land locked from the road to his land. About 10 years ago a house owner approached him to extend his garden by about 5m so my friend subsequently approach every house offering 5 metre extension for £2,500. He had a 100% uptake. Cleverly he knew that they'd all realise 5m wasn't enough so since then they keep coming back and extending a bit more. The gardens vary in size obviously but as an average he's been selling for what equates to 50 sqm for £5000 or thereabouts and theres about 100 houses involved.
My friend just happens to be in the right place but farming next to urban fringe is a nightmare in its own right as he has to have somebody walking in front of the combine for example to harvest the adjacent fields to these houses. He gets rubbish dumped over the fence daily along with garden waste etc. They set off these silly fire balloons that land in the fields and start fires. He has to combine, bale and remove straw on the same day so very often the straw is poor quality due to it being wet. He has to carry spare tyres for every piece of equipment.
 

Overby

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
South West

robs1

Member
Contact a land promoter, if there is any chance of it being developed they will have plenty of big developers willing to gamble 40 grand an acre , or sell it via a lottery
 

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