[deuce22]

Hi.

I am a complete novice when it comes to smallholdings/farms and haven't a clue of what you are actually allowed to do with them.

I'm a builder and although I was brought up and spent most of my life in cities, I've gradually been getting closer to living in the country. I'm planning to buy a smallholding within the next few years and have the following ideas.

1. Knock down the existing property and build a more efficient home.

2. Fence off a certain amount of land and re-home as many animals as possible into some type of animal sanctuary.

3. Construct some type of building for the sole purpose of caring for animals with volunteers and as a non profit charity.

4. Fence off another section of land with a separate entrance and construct some type of holiday accommodation (log cabins/chalets). Employ locals to help run that business and the profits from this business can help towards the running costs of everything.

I have no idea if any of this is possible. Can somebody give me an idea if this could be done.

Thanks.

[Buttermilk]

In the right area, with planning permission for the holiday enterprise, planning permission for the buildings and enough land to house and feed the animals anything is possible.

You will find that taking in animals will need more space than you would expect, unless you buy in all feed and bedding, which is very expensive.

[deuce22]

Thanks.

I just wanted to know if the was a glimmer of hope for this to work. I will look into the regulations for land size for certain animals and calculate how much I need.

I was initially thinking of at least 50 acres, but I may need to find something with double this.

[Backinwellies]

  have you robbed a bank?    Do you realistically know how much this is going to cost ... both initially and ongoing.    We are still ploughing about 5 to 10K a yr into our smallholding ... to feed beasts and upgrade buildings ..... despite buying the place outright including the holiday cott (house and cott in excellent order) ... and we work on  a semi commercial basis selling meat.  We still both work pt in other jobs to support smallholding.

Animals of any kind cost a fortune ....  rescued ones will cost more in vet bills etc  .... have you thought how you will finance this ongoing?

Planning could be your biggest hurdle.   Also location ..... need to be near people for visitors and in good location for holiday makers to pay good bucks (rural inland Wales doesnt pay great money for holiday lets generally .... ) All of which will vastly increase cost of property to start with.

Good luck though .... would have loved to have done something similar. 

[twizzel]

Backinwellies put it better than I could. 50-100 acres plus buildings will set you back a small fortune. Planning in the countryside is difficult and a minefield. Rescue farm animals tend to be rescued from going cull, so do you want a host of big pets with health issues ?

[SallyintNorth]

Not to mention the price of fencing.  Ball park ?5,000-?7,000 to fence an acre of open ground.  Lots of small paddocks will put the price up.

And it all needs ongoing maintenance, and renewing every 15-20 years.  More frequently depending on the ground and what livestock you have - and how good a job was done in the first place.

[macgro7]

Thanks.

I just wanted to know if the was a glimmer of hope for this to work. I will look into the regulations for land size for certain animals and calculate how much I need.

I was initially thinking of at least 50 acres, but I may need to find something with double this.

In this country this would only be possible if you win lottery.
If you wanted a commercial farm - perhaps.
If you wanna have a "rescue centre" for retired fsrm animals then you would definitely need to win a lottery to be able to feed them and employ some people to work for you.

There are plenty of charities like this and they all struggle.

[honeyend]

We basically did this, but as we are older we are not bothering with holiday homes.  Over the years we have traded up with houses, my dad was a builder so we have always bought the worst house in the best place, and even it a do over.We had enough equity to buy a property that was unmortgable, a small bungalow, out buildings and 14 acres, it was cheap because most people did not have enough cash, and the land is only really good for grass.  It took us nearly six years to find this place, and you have to be persistent and look at everything. We now have a house that is worth double what we paid for the whole plot, its A rated, with 9kw solar, but more importantly we have a lovely life here. Fencing is mains electric, so it's relatively cheap. The animal bit is time-consuming, and for most people who have not had animals that's the hard bit, because you are tied in time and money. Caring just for grass is expensive, I have just spent £400 on fertiliser. So I would rent the land out on a licence.
Do not expect income from animals. Camping, glamping, wedding venue, look at lots of websites and steal ideas, and work out how much work you want to do, remembering what and where you buy will end up dictating your plans.