Author Topic: Hi everyone and questions (Read 2713 times)

Farmer Giles UK · « **on:** October 13, 2009, 01:33:09 pm »

Hi all.

My wife and I are just about, I hope, to chuck in working full time and move to the country. We started off looking for somewhere to keep our 2 horses but land around where we live is just so expensive that we decided to head west to Cornwall. This of course means changing jobs, which begs the question "Could we make ends meet without either of us doing a full time job?". I'm currently in a very high pressure IT job and have been looking to downsize for a few years now.

We own our own home, have no mortgage, are debt free, also own 50% shares in a property which should net us about 400UKP per month and we do have some savings (part cash, part investments). We will be selling our current home to raise enough money to buy a 30 acre farm in Cornwall or at least that's the plan.

We need to cover about 1300UKP per month and are looking at various options to do this.

1. Rent out one 10 acre field (cattle grazing probably) - Currently owner already does this.
2. Run a few diy liveries (3 to 4 maybe).
3. Use 5-10 acres for a smallholding, grow veg, chickens, etc.
4. Get a part time job or do some IT work from home.
5. Keep one bedroom or convert an outbuilding for B&B, possibly for riding holidays.

Obviously we'd like our land/the farming of it, to raise as much money as possible toward bills but accept that a part time job for one or both of us in inevitable. What would be your recommendations?

Is this doable or just a pipedream?

Regards

Roxy · « **Reply #1 on:** October 13, 2009, 02:05:25 pm »

We have gone down the same road discussing the same options as you.

Here are my thoughts on the conclusion we came to.

We rent out 14 acres to a farmer for suckler cows from May to November. The rent is not a lot. I doubt we could make a living by keeping our own livestock on that 14 acres ......although we do keep our own. More of a hobby interest though. Certainly do not make enough to give up work!!

We have looked into keeping liveries, as we already have a lot of ponies ourselves. But if you take on more than three, the council tax you on the stables, so you need to charge bigger rents. A lot of livery yards round here are struggling, clients are having to sell their horses due to the credit crunch. So, we have held back on that idea for now.

When you say working liveries, do you mean you will use them as a riding school horse, or trekking horse? We looked at the trekking centre idea, with bed and breakfast for the owners. Again, the issue of credit crunch came to the fore, and we did wonder about it being seasonal. I know people ride all year, but up here, we have severe winters, and cannot see people wanting to ride over our moors in a blizzard!!

We have a mortgage, and I would dearly love one of the above ideas to work for us, to help pay it. At the moment my OH works full time and I am part time.

We would like nothing better that to be able to give up work and live off our land, but at the moment that does not seem possible.

I wish you luck with your venture, and hope it works for you!!

Farmer Giles UK · « **Reply #2 on:** October 13, 2009, 02:14:50 pm »

Thanks for that - I've edited to clarify that I meant diy liveries and we were going only take 3 so we won't have a council tax issue.

I think the key thing for us is that we don't have any mortgage, so we're only trying to cover the day to day bills.

Growing veg, keeping chickens etc is imprortant to us as we'll eat good food and it'll help keep the bills down. The miilion dollar question is what else can we do with the land and our labour to help towards covering the bills?

Roxy · « **Reply #3 on:** October 13, 2009, 02:28:56 pm »

Is there any chance of having a small caravan/campsite maybe? I know the caravan club are happy to use a field for weekend meets etc. and they do not require any facilities except maybe a water supply, and road access of course, if you are unable to accommodate a full running campsite. We cannot do this due to access down a narrow farm track!!

Also, groups of people quite often pay good rent to use a field for whatever, ie. kite boarding, dog training, all sorts of things. I assume they would have insurance for such things.

There is also the car boots - many farmers rent their fields near us for this purpose.

A small market garden, farm shop etc. They are hugely popular. Sort of farm gate sales maybe? Not sure how your planning people are with such things of course.

With you having no mortgatge it is completely possible you can achieve your dream .....but I would have some solid ideas to fall back on.

JulieS · « **Reply #4 on:** October 13, 2009, 02:36:15 pm »

Hi...We are lucky enough to be starting out with what you are thinking of doing. We moved into our house in March this year, in North Devon.

We don't have as much land as you are looking at.. We have a 2 bedroom holiday cottage, which was our first project. We completely refurbished and put it with an agency, and have been fully booked since 27th June. We have 8 acres here, and have chickens and starting a herd of GOS pigs.

We're not looking to get rich, just have a less stressful and more enjoyable way of life.

You mentioned the key point in your message....No mortgage, and being able to cover the day to day bills. We're not quite doing it yet, but with our plans it won't be long before we are. It's really is amazing what you can cut down on and the amount of 'stuff' you don't need.

Good luck with your plans....Go for it! Our biggest outlay that we didn't budget enough for was getting the land fit for use, and fencing/livestock housing.

starcana · « **Reply #5 on:** October 17, 2009, 11:33:18 pm »

Hi, we're in West Cornwall. Moved here a year ago. We have 13 acres and it's not as easy as you might think to get people who want to rent the land. We can't even get our hay cut in a contra deal so have to pay to get it cut (about 10 acres). BUT, on the plus side, we absolutely LOVE living here, we have a holiday barn attached to our farmhouse and it has been solidly booked from mid-February until end of November. It's a long season here if you do anything in the way of tourism and the whole county is geared up for it - so campsite/holiday lets work really well. For us it's just a hobby business as we are very fortunate -took early retirement with final salary pension schemes (remember those???) and are also mortgage free. Go for it. It's a fantastic place to live and when you stop work your expenses do reduce enormously - no smart work clothes needed, less petrol, no expensive sandwich lunches or 'buying' your way out of problems as you do when you're cash rich and time poor. Good luck and enjoy.