The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Buildings & planning => Topic started by: macgro7 on January 24, 2018, 06:11:54 pm
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There's a property for sale in our area.
It's around 20 acres so it's a smallholding but it has lots of massive agricultural buildings as it was used for a full size dairy farm.
It's obviously way too much building space for just 20 acres so I was thinking what could you use them for.
You could use one barn to store machinery etc one for storing hay and one for cows or sheep.
Could you rent the rest out as warehouses?
I though about something crazy as well - take the roof off and use it as a sort of walled garden. Could that work?
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I love the walled garden idea. In Shetland, on Trondra island, Trondra Croft has done just that but with an old cottage whose roof had fallen in. Of course Shetland is really windy, so the mini walled garden seems to be the only place where they can grow flowers :garden: . Using a big shed would keep out the rabbits, and the north wall would heat up nicely for growing peaches and other tender fruits, especially if you kept that wall higher than the others. The slight possible downside is that earth which has been covered for a long time smells horrible when it's finally opened up, so I don't know how fertile the soil would be.
You could restart the old type of tennis, as played by Henry 8th, where the court has high walls and the ball is bounced off sloping roofs - there's one at Falkland Palace in Fife.
You could definitely rent them out as storage or workshop facilities, although you would need to be well tied up legally, and make sure the renters are not doing something nefarious.
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Renting them out might need change of use and have tax implications.
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Yes I know. I'm not sure whether the property is still registered as agricultural or perhaps horsey, if the latter then you could divide the barn into stables, make another one into an indoor school and rent to to rich horse people.
You know, for a little while I worked at the stables and since then I built up a dislike towards horses! Working horses are fine but those where some rich ladies expensive pets!
Workhouse would need some work probably. One barn has planning permission to make it into a house
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Renting them out might need change of use and have tax implications.
Exactly! Change of use is easy to get because the buildings are there.
Why be frightened of tax implications? You only pay tax on money you've made. The only legal way to pay no tax is to have no worthwhile income. Which is preferable? Someone has to contribute to running the country! :innocent:
Seriously though - renting out buildings for storage, or small businesses (they can be quite low impact) is far more profitable than farming. I get £700/month for a 60' x 30' modern building with light and power and a toilet (connected to unofficial septic tank) What's not to like about that - even after tax?
If the storage or business is low key no one will even know you're doing it. We had an inspection from the council enforcement officer who suspected something none agricultural was afoot, so put a baler and some other machinery in the building, and said the rest of the stuff was all mine - after all farm buildings are notoriously used for storing all sorts. She left quite happy with the situation. However I did apply for retrospective change of use to industrial use for another building, as my son runs a fairly obvious business out of it. We got the change of use with no problem. :thumbsup:
If you can get 20 acres with massive buildings for a reasonable price macgro7 then go for it - it's the way ahead! You'll have enough useable land to feed your smallholder desires, ample buildings to fulfill any smallholders dreams, and sufficient buildings left over to give you a decent income that you'll never get from smallholding alone.
I wouldn't totally devalue a decent building by removing the roof! If a walled garden is an essential extra, then build one! there's no profit in it compared to what you can get from the building as it is.
I also would not include anything to do with rich ladies and their horse in your plans. May be profitable initially, but how much do you value a quiet life and freedom from bitchiness/hassle? :innocent:
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Imagination and finance!
Swap the roof for polycarbonate = high greenhouse
Leave as is and add led lighting and grow tiers of veg.. anything from salads to chicory.. or even dark and mushrooms.
Depending how big the interior is.. archery range? Scalextric track?
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Ive though of renting my spaces out - the problem is that everyone who wants a shed cant afford to get one of their own - watch out for peeps that think the world deserve them a shed - but wont make any efforts to make one.
Don't just think about it Bazzais - if you've got spare space and could do with some more income - then do it!
Of course most people can't afford a shed of their own! That doesn't make them a cheapskate or potentially a bad tenant. The problem is not in buying the shed. It's in buying the land and then fighting with the planners to get a shed on it, and then applying for permission to run a business in it. Anyone running a business has enough to contend with without having to jump through hoops to get premises as well. That's why rental is so popular and so many small businesses have to rent.
I've got some of my units let out to very successful businesses that have expanded so much since getting their own space that they have asked us for additional buildings. I've never met anyone that thought they deserved a shed or who even haggled about the rent asked. You get a bond and a month or quarter's rent in advance and go from there. There's no security of tenure like with houses, so the minute the rent isn't paid then the locks are changed and no access allowed until all money owed is paid up. Couldn't be simpler. :thumbsup: [size=78%] [/size]
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Yup. It's better to rent out a commercial properties (shop, warehouse or whatever) than a house.
Unfortunately the property I was looking at is sold subject to contract... still looking though.
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Keep an eye on it macgro, if it's what you really want.
A third of property sales fall through before completion - some due to dreamers and time wasters, and some due to unforeseen circumstances.
So it might yet come on the market again. So it might be worth expressing your interest to the agents, just in case.