[Penely]

Hello everyone,

I am moving permanently  to the isle of Skye soon and within the next couple of years(hopefully a year but depends on finances) would like to rent some land for 2 horses and maybe some goats also. Most of the land is croft land or for sale that I see, I know you can allow cattle on croft land but dont think horses would be allowed and would mean letting them roam over roads etc and possibly would lose track of them which would be nice for them but not so nice for me looking for them.

I know prices vary by area so just wondering if anybody was in the know up at that end. I have lived in surrey and yorkshire and at one yard I worked charged £80 a week  for 20 acres split into 7-8 and around 10 horses per field. In yorkshire most the people i knew owned there field or family owned them, the only one who rented paid £15 a month for 2 acres and another farmer said she was being ripped off and he could charge that a year.

I'm hoping/guessing that land on the isles would be alot cheaper to rent as is vastly cheaper in sale price and there is little to no agricultural land so its not like its a rare thing.

I dont want to ask locals yet as I'm not permanently moved in and also jobless so would not want to be paying for land that i cant afford to put anything on at the moment, just want to work it all out as basing my income on what i need to pay  for the animals as don't need money for much else.

[Rosemary]

Try the Scottish Crofting Federation - they may be able to help.

[Hermit]

I would really check this out locally, for example if a croft is tennented they are not allowed to sub let. A lot of folk ( especially up here ) wont have a horse on their land at all as they only have sheep netting which horses ruin. Any good grazing they are rearing meat on, making what hay they can on etc. A lot of crofters consider horses as a waste of good grass. Best to buy if you can if you want horses later on. Check out trekking centres or riding schools if there are any on Skye as some centres do livery for the use of horses in the school. Dont hope and guess and say there is a lot of land, a lot cannot be grazed at all in some months and the rest is sheep hill with associated grant conditions etc. A couple moved up here thinking it would be simple and they would be doing some crofter a favour by renting land off them. It ended up in a tragedy, they could not find anywhere safe for them, one was shot the other given away!  Dont mean to be a misery , I came here with two horses but own my land, I am just saying how it is up here to give you some idea as to what you may be letting yourself in for.  Good luck with your move!

[ellied]

The thing with islands, particularly popular ones, is that there is limited land and lots of folk wanting it, mostly for traditional uses or for tourism related ones.  So don't assume that land will be cheaper, it may well be unavailable for love nor money and particularly for horses, most farmers don't want them, particularly shod ones and particularly with "horsey people" attached

Try an ad in the local paper, website and look for the trekking/livery yard(s) for information if not possible places to keep your animals before you go, better safe than sorry..

[janeislay]

I'm a bit confused, Penely.  It almost seems you're talking about common land as opposed to crofting land.  There's a huge difference.
Crofting land is no different from farmed land - and grazing on either would cost just the same.  Lots of people rent a field from a farmer or crofter here on Islay but I'm afraid I don't know what the current charge is.  I still charge £1 per head per week per beast.

[Victorian Farmer]

i think you would pay £10 a week no contract i live in the highlands and go to sky and a lot barter is the way .small field not much prospects rough ground .