The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: mariegold on July 19, 2013, 11:31:35 am
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Hello all! My boyfriend and I have been living in Cornwall on co-housing farm and working communally on the land. Sadly this has been a miserable experience and we would really like to go it alone. We have a budget of £240000 to buy a smallholding or a house with separate land but don't want to be too rural, would love to move to a friendly small town/ big village that still has a sense of community and ideally an interest in environmental issues. Are we seeking the impossible? We are really open to all suggestions! Can anyone help us? Thank you.
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I think you would get what you are after in Wales for that price. We moved to Carmarthenshire. We wanted to be rural but of course you don't have to choose that.
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Good luck. When I decided to move to Central Scotland to be nearer my children I made a big mistake. I only looked on the standard estate agent websites. There are a number of others that offer country properties with land and I could have bought a smaller house with much more land for the same price. (£265K)
Try these, I'm sure there are lots more.
www.country-properties.co.uk (http://www.country-properties.co.uk)
www.smithsgore.co.uk (http://www.smithsgore.co.uk)
www.knightfrank.co.uk (http://www.knightfrank.co.uk)
www.primelocation.com (http://www.primelocation.com)
www.savills.co.uk (http://www.savills.co.uk)
www.rettie.co.uk (http://www.rettie.co.uk)
www.uklandandfarms.co.uk (http://www.uklandandfarms.co.uk)
www.ruralscene.co.uk (http://www.ruralscene.co.uk)
www.uklandandfarms.co.uk (http://www.uklandandfarms.co.uk)
www.greenshifters.co.uk (http://www.greenshifters.co.uk)
www.wallets-rps.co.uk (http://www.wallets-rps.co.uk)
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Thanks both! I grew up in Carmarthenshire and although its very beautiful I wouldn't live there again as there are so few jobs. Will check out the websites but think I'll be hard pressed to convince my o/h to move to Scotland (again.... woops). We are both in our early 30s and want to settle somewhere long term, just don't know where that somewhere should/could be. Maybe its all just a crazy dream.....
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If you need to rely on working then it will definitely be more difficult. Places where there are jobs are always more expensive.
Good luck with your search
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i know your not sure about scotland but 240k up here gives you a good few options...
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Will check out the websites but think I'll be hard pressed to convince my o/h to move to Scotland (again.... woops).
Does he have a problem with Scotland? ???
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If you can persuade OH.......then the area round Forres in Moray might suit, because of the Findhorn community up there, there are a lot of Eco minded smallholders who want to do their own thing a bit more but have that kind of vibe around.
Or really anywhere in Aberdeenshire and Angus, we don't have the rain and midges but still have the castles, whisky and stunning countryside.
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What about the Totnes area in South Devon? Small country town, full of people living off the land and/or following alternative lifestyles.
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Don't think you are likely to get much for 240K in an area with plentyful jobs outside of Scotland. Wouldn't buy a house in most areas in southern half of England. We moved to Carmarthenshire because we could afford the land here. Don't discount the community in a smaller village (can be better then larger places)
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Thanks both! I grew up in Carmarthenshire and although its very beautiful I wouldn't live there again as there are so few jobs. Will check out the websites but think I'll be hard pressed to convince my o/h to move to Scotland (again.... woops). We are both in our early 30s and want to settle somewhere long term, just don't know where that somewhere should/could be. Maybe its all just a crazy dream.....
That last bit makes me think perhaps you are not yet fully committed ?? Or perhaps not both equally committed?
Taking on a smallholding is a major decision, something for which you need to be sure you are totally prepared. Was it working as part of a co-op which made your previous experience so miserable? I can fully appreciate that as I know my OH and I wouldn't last a day in that sort of set-up ;D We are far too opinionated and independent to live with others.
I think you would do well to take a breath and not rush headlong into such a major investment. Take the time to investigate the possibility of suitable locations and a suitable enterprise.
If you are both working then you are severely restricted in how much work you can actually do; could you get time off work for lambing; how would you cope with emergencies; how would you get the hens to bed in winter when you will be leaving for work before it gets light and getting home after dark; and so on. Then you need to decide if you can bring yourself to kill a sick chicken, or a meat bird, take the pigs and sheep for slaughter yourself, decide an animal should be put to sleep and take it to the vet to get that done. How would you divide the work between you - because one partner feeling they do all the work while the other swans around can lead to real strife. This brings us on to the question of children - having children affects the whole dynamic of life on a smallholding, mostly for the better but it does have its downside too, so that's something else to think about.
I'm not trying to put you off but I would hate to think you were coming into smallholding for idealistic reasons without realising what a hard slog it really is.
I'm a bit worried too that you are looking at a certain size of holding because that's how much you have to invest. Perhaps thinking about the points above first will help you to decide that perhaps you really only need a couple of acres, which you could afford somewhere well suited to your jobs, rather than going for the most acreage you can buy but somewhere so obscure there are no jobs so you can't afford to live.
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you can buy my house if you wish - £250k - large barn conversion with workshop, quadruple garage and bothy. 5 mins walk from village and school.
with upto 60 acres and barn for long term rent.
45 mins from aberdeen. plenty of well paid jobs here.
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Shygirl is right, Aberdeen is the one place in Scotland with more jobs than people. And living in the shire is best of both worlds, people are lovely here, not at all anti incomers as with oil they are used to lots of those. There's a reason the royals can't wait (even for royal babies ) to get up here!
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average wage for aberdeenshire is £600 p wk. loads of beautiful castles and beaches too. plenty of small holders around.
also the happiest place to live according the recent survey - or was it 2nd? the top 3 are shetland , orkney and aberdeenshire.
wev just come home from our local beach, 2.5 miles of white sand with about 20 people on it. bournemouth used to be our local beach - finding somewhere there to park your car or bum is equally difficult in the summer :roflanim:
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It so lovely to get all these replies. Been feeling a bit alone with these thoughts! Thanks also Fleecewife for your thoughts. I have worked in farming most of my short life and grew up surrounded by animals so feel well prepared for the smallholding lifestyle. We have also lived really rurally, mostly due to my choice of jobs but really want to be around people! We hope to buy a place outright and live frugally with us both working part time. Will defo check out Aberdeenshire, we both love Scotland but we left there because I couldn't get work (much to OH annoyance). We only want a few acres to start with and see where it takes us. P.S Shygirl where is your house? :>
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wev just come home from our local beach, 2.5 miles of white sand with about 20 people on it. bournemouth used to be our local beach - finding somewhere there to park your car or bum is equally difficult in the summer :roflanim:
Bournemouth used to be our local beach too but we never went there. A friend lives as Canford Heath and he said one of the beach car parks was full at 8.30am last weekend
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look at this thread for a nice plot and separate house (they are just over a mile apart)
belongs to a member on here who is currently looking to up size...
in a decent sized village north of glasgow with easy access to anything you could possibly want!!!
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wev just come home from our local beach, 2.5 miles of white sand with about 20 people on it. bournemouth used to be our local beach - finding somewhere there to park your car or bum is equally difficult in the summer :roflanim:
Bournemouth used to be our local beach too but we never went there. A friend lives as Canford Heath and he said one of the beach car parks was full at 8.30am last weekend
We used to live in Bournemouth (OH is from Poole) and only ever went on the beach in the winter. Same as Hastings where I grew up.
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finding work was one of my concerns, after a few phone calls and putting the word around, looks like i don't need to worry.... we are choosing Carmarthenshire ,as the prices are good and we just fell in love with the place