[suziequeue]

We live in mid-Wales and the train from our local village station goes directly to central Birmingham. First train is at 6.15am and gets into Birmingham at 8.30ish. The service is very good. I know of one commuter who commutes daily from Borth to Birmingham University!!!


Don't rule out commuting too quickly if you want access to cheaper properties in mid-wales.


It's good here..... just wet!!!

[tizaala]

It's like having kids, If you wait till you can afford them - then you'll never have them,
We rent privately and have access to around 8 acres all told , with tatty old buildings that were no good for our landlords purposes, If he can't get a tractor in the door then it's a redundant building. so that to us is 8 stables and 6 old pigsties , a four bedroom house that was falling apart , and all for £500 a month, yes there are drawbacks , but we can do what we want without interference, splendid isolation , and freedom. I can go from here and be at the M5/M6 JUNCTION in  1.5 hrs.
have a look at this http://jacydo.com/property/smallholding-temple-bar-felinfach/

[MAK]

I know some people who could not afford to be smallholders in the UK so they sold up and moved to France. They have their smallholding and some work too - usually using their trades or doing odd jobs for other Brits who have retirred here.
We did not plan to be smallholders - it was an accident !
An accident because our house came with 2 large barns and a piggery and enough land to keep stock and grow veg etc.
Certainly there are very many old farmhouses with land for sale becuase it is cheaper to buy land and build a Lego house that to rennovate an old house. Many of these old farms have been with "estate agents" for years and are poorley advertised ( most not on the www) but if did French property web sites it is likeley that there are scant details and few photos. (UK estate agents who sell over here aim at the Brits and overprice stuff). We know people who bought their house and then discovered ( oh by the way - you also own another house or a shop or a wood down the lane).

[SallyintNorth]

You certainly wouldn't need to spend as much as £300,000 for a place with a couple of acres up here in north Cumbria.  And there are IT firms aplenty in Newcastle, or further down country around Manchester. Or, as others have suggested, looking at areas with good train links to where your OH works could bear fruit.

You'll probably think it sounds impractical with the wee'un, but if you can get yourself on a few WWOOFs you will find yourself lit up with all kinds of possibilities you'd not thought of before.  Depending on which side of the Midlands you are (I'm from the Black Country myself, as it happens), you may not be so very far from Lower Shaw Farm on the outskirts of Swindon.  I did my first WWOOF there and I can honestly say my life changed that weekend. 

Good luck anyway 

[MAK]

£300 k gets you an entire village here.
Try £70 k for a house with outbuildings and land.

[Small Farmer]

We live surrounded by people who own a house and a paddock but have no use for the paddock, the largest of which is a hectare.  So we farm on the land of six neighbours.  We added one a year and have done lots of fencing but pay no rent

[plumseverywhere]

I think Tiz hits on a very valid point there - the one about redundant buildings just because they don't fit one persons expectations but you can make of it what you can to your advantage.
Our land is steep in places and uneven.  I am guessing that of the hundreds of viewers over the 3 vacant years, many were pony owners and the land was just not suitable for them. Others were put off that we live 2 miles from Long Lartin and 1 mile from a large traveller site - to us that just means lower crime rates in the local vicinity because of the higher police presence!  The hilly land means its great for goats and native sheep (it also tones your legs up, all that walking up hills    )  It also meant that the house and land came in at a very affordable price....

[in the hills]

    More and more computer firms are allowing people to work from home ...... ideal  .


          Your OH could look out for a home-based job ..... allows you to search outside the commuter belt, in more affordable areas, unless of course you are tied to an area for other reasons.

[deepinthewoods]

i started off growing one solitary lettuce on my last houses meagre patio, then i made a small pen and got 2 chickens.
get your big terracota pot and fill it with whatever you can get, compost, soil, some rubble at the bottom for drainage then when your next in tescos buy an extra bulb of garlic, split it into cloves, choose the biggest and plant them a few inches apart in your pot.   they you go, your now a small smallholder!

[Carl f k]

We are also in the midlands.. Live in a big old house with large garden we have chickens rabbits and ducks at the moment, hoping for some goats aswell.. Have raised beds for veg and a greenhouse. Not wealthy at all we both work and have 4 teenagers.. Have to work to pay the bills but still enjoying a part of the smallholders life.. Couldn't afford to buy a small holding so making the most of what we have. Looking for a small piece of land to rent for other animals but no luck so far .. It can be done if u have a litte space.. I was inspired by Kate fox.. and her micro holding.. Google it for some ideas, follow your dreams you'll get there in the end if u want it bad enough

        Good luck in your search

[ballingall]

We live surrounded by people who own a house and a paddock but have no use for the paddock, the largest of which is a hectare.  So we farm on the land of six neighbours.  We added one a year and have done lots of fencing but pay no rent

Now that is true. My sister has moved in the last couple of months to her first smallholding. She was looking to buy in a very specific area, due to school catchment areas, unfortunately an expensive area to buy in! She managed by buying a converted farm steading, so the house is semi detached. There are 5 houses, and a 10 acre field was split, so that each house has a 2 acre paddock. NONE of the other house owners use their paddocks for anything! There quite a lot of conditions in the deeds, so they are going to have be careful not to annoy the neighbours- no cockerels for example! But, because the house is semi detached, it brought the property down into their price range.


Beth

[Mel]

Noo,you do not have to be wealthy,just a bit insane

I moved to my current location on the verge of bankruptcy,a small diminutive cottage but has just over the acre on the back for the first year I did not do anything and it was all overgrown,6ft of nettles and thistles,basically a bit of waste land really.

It is now 6 yrs on and although it is really hard work,I love it,you would not regret it when you do find somewhere,the entire lifestyle is just so vastly different to that of the rat race so to speak,if I were you I would get  and make your dream come true,go for it!!

[Marsbar]

Hi, We 'only' have 2 (private)allotments but on them we have Chucks,Ducks,Geese,Pig's & two Pygmy Goat's and it only costs me £50 per year for the land.............but i'm always looking for some 'proper' land.
been to look at an 8 acre plot today........let's see what my moneyman say's.


Richard
Sheffield

[mab]

as an extension to the allotment idea; some councils have common land that can be rented for smallholding - Beccles common is suffolk is rented out this way.

I tried to apply (as there was a vacant 2 acres) but couldn't 'cos I lived just over the border in Bungay, and the bungay 'common' land was rented out entirely to one big farmer  ; sadly this is quite a common occurrence, (Esp when the big farmer has a seat on the local council  (don't actually know if this was the case in bungay, but it certainly was in another area I lived in)).

But certainly worth asking - just in case.

I  retrained as a sparky so I could move to an area where I could afford to get some land in the end.

[Lesley Silvester]

You say that you are not allowed to grow veg or keep chooks where you are.  Can you not find somewhere a bit more flexible?  If you can get an older type council house they tend to have bigger gardens.  That's what we have (in Telford) and keep three goats as well as growing fruit and veg.

If you want it enough, it will happen.