Would we be mad?

[Catriona]

Fed up trying to run a farm from a smallholding! (4 acres at home and additional 14 acres elsewhere, but no useable yard/buildings for winter) A farm tenancy may be available - 100 acres with proper yard/sheds. Considering selling up and renting. What are your thoughts? One of us has a proper job, the other needs to make some kind of income from the farm. Plan is to expand our current sheep, beef and meat box enterprises.

 

[Norfolk Hill Farmer]

With just the small amount of information you've given, my first reaction would be to go for it ,but try to keep the small holding. Hopefully that will become increasingly valuable where the tenancy will eventually end.

 

[Hilly]

Selling up renting , mad , I know a few who done it bet they wouldn’t do it again

 

[Nearly]

Selling up renting , mad , I know a few who done it bet they wouldn’t do it again

In laws considered it in the 80's. They would have been homeless now.
Totally left behind by house prices, land prices and agri economics.

The next 20 years are going to be as bad for small scale farming as any. Large scale won't be a picnic either.

 

[Flat 10]

Will you be able to rent out your house and the 4 acres for decent money to pony people , maybe sell the outlying land for working capital and rent the new farm? I would be reluctant to sell my house as others have suggested. At least banks will have something to lend against rather than nothing like many first time tenants. Definitely worth having a go I would have thought.

 

[Formatted]

^ What Flat 10 said. You'd be mad to sell and put everything into stocking new place, even renting it out and extending mortgage would be better.

Get decent insurance and if one of you dies, you can always put it notice to quit and move back to the small holding

 

[redsloe]

Go for it. 14 acres of bare land would stock a hundred acres, keep hold of any property as a safety net and if you've got a meat box business then you're already adding value to your product which is what any smallholding needs to do.
If your relatively young who knows where you can go!
People near us sold a hundred acres 20odd years ago to rent 350. They have made a living since which they wouldn't have otherwise.

Disclaimer
I'm not qualified in anything.?

 

[Catriona]

Our current smallholding is probably not a great property for rental - but we'd sell it, buy a low maintenance house in town to rent out, so as to stay in the property market and have some additional income.
The farm in question is a council let - anyone any experience with the council as landlords?

 

[farmerm]

Better both of you get proper jobs and assess again in 12 months... there is a very real prospect that beef and lamb producers are getting thrown under the bus right now... 12 months time the picture will start to clear...

If you have the meat boxing marketing skills why not team up with a neighbour, they supply you the additional animals for you to add value to. That is surely a win win… You can expand your meat box enterprise at low cost and low risk for a reasonable return. If you can't make a margin boxing bought in animals then boxing your own animals isn't really adding value over selling them whole is it?

 

[David.]

I would never trust any landowner anywhere, nor especially their agents, sufficiently to sell my bit to help secure an FBT.
But I am 55, and not as keen as I was 30 yrs ago.
Go for it if you will forever regret not having tried, but do keep your own roof somewhere to cover your heads if it all ends badly.
Farmerm offers a practical sensible compromise, whilst the air clears over Brexit.
Of course, if it turns out we are all worrying unnecessarily, and all is dandy, this will in hindsight, have been a missed window of opportunity...

 

[Flat 10]

Our current smallholding is probably not a great property for rental - but we'd sell it, buy a low maintenance house in town to rent out, so as to stay in the property market and have some additional income.
The farm in question is a council let - anyone any experience with the council as landlords?

Lots of people on here are council tenants some councils are better than others but I would say they are better than some LL and worse than others.....

 

[Mixedupfarmer]

If you have the meat boxing marketing skills why not team up with a neighbour, they supply you the additional animals for you to add value to. That is surely a win win… You can expand your meat box enterprise at low cost and low risk for a reasonable return. If you can't make a margin boxing bought in animals then boxing your own animals isn't really adding value over selling them whole is it?

This is a very good point,

 

[Hilly]

Better both of you get proper jobs and assess again in 12 months... there is a very real prospect that beef and lamb producers are getting thrown under the bus right now... 12 months time the picture will start to clear...

If you have the meat boxing marketing skills why not team up with a neighbour, they supply you the additional animals for you to add value to. That is surely a win win… You can expand your meat box enterprise at low cost and low risk for a reasonable return. If you can't make a margin boxing bought in animals then boxing your own animals isn't really adding value over selling them whole is it?

Lambs worth more in the market than a box , beef brave trying that in a box lots of unpopular cuts to try and sell.

 

[Mixedupfarmer]

Lambs worth more in the market than a box , beef brave trying that in a box lots of unpopular cuts to try and sell.

Fair point about lambs at the minute but most of the year they are normally better boxed

 

[glasshouse]

Fed up trying to run a farm from a smallholding! (4 acres at home and additional 14 acres elsewhere, but no useable yard/buildings for winter) A farm tenancy may be available - 100 acres with proper yard/sheds. Considering selling up and renting. What are your thoughts? One of us has a proper job, the other needs to make some kind of income from the farm. Plan is to expand our current sheep, beef and meat box enterprises.

Why no yard?
Just build one
Yes you would be mad to rent

 

[Catriona]

Why no yard?
Just build one
Yes you would be mad to rent

No space at all.... and it floods! Not viable to expand and keep more stock there - evacuating our small flock/herd was bad enough.

 

[Catriona]

But thank you for your answer to my madness question!

 

[spin cycle]

Our current smallholding is probably not a great property for rental - but we'd sell it, buy a low maintenance house in town to rent out, so as to stay in the property market and have some additional income.
The farm in question is a council let - anyone any experience with the council as landlords?

that sounds a decent plan.....important to keep some property but otherwise go for it

 

[glasshouse]

But thank you for your answer to my madness question!

Why not raise the level? Then build sheds on it
My mate did that, and got houses on it!

 

[Hilly]

I know someone who sold a 500 acre farm 30 years ago to rent a 1500 acre one , they retired and we’re having a little boast about how well they did at the farm sale , ffs if they had sat tight on the owners place it went up in value ten times anything they have done on the rented place it was a total bum move.