[Nigel Gibb]

Hello there
This message may seem a bit out of the blue but I have just subscribed recently to this forum and I am interested in making contact with small holders in the Scottish Borders. My name is Nigel Gibb and I lecture in horticulture at the Borders College, Newtown St Boswells. My partner and I, have dreams to buy/lease a small holding in the Borders and are currently saving our pennies. We are in our early thirties and very enthusiastic to get started but finding the property search difficult. Perhaps you can offer us some advice in how you got started in your property search? I come from a farming background but unfortunately all my family who were farmers are no longer with us. I would be quite happy to lease some land first in order to run some sheep etc but of course it would be great to buy eventually. 
Regards
Nigel

[jameslindsay]

Hi Nigel, welcome from me in Fife.

[Anke]

We managed to get in fairly easy, as we sold our house in Edinburgh, but still had to buy a building plot with land. It took us two years to build the house, and by that time our children were in school/nursery, so I had a bit more time to actually get going. WE started from a bare field three years ago, and only now are getting somewhere near to where we want to be. Our mortgage is not that small either...

We have found it quite hard to find smaller holdings (with houses) for sale in the Borders, as we are still in the Edinburgh commuter belt (my OH goes up four days a week too) and horse owners are also very keen on these size holdings....

I would certainly recommend to rent a field to run some sheep on to start off, or you might find a cottage for rent with a field next door, which would allow you to develop a garden, get some hens and sheep. I know people who have a floating farm code, as they keep all their sheep on rented land. You could also look into byuing some land that is sold off/split from a large farm, and then try and build your house on the basis that you need to be on the land 24/7. I have seen that done too, but it would need a full economic justification for the planning permission (the farm has to be viable as main income...).

Hope this doesn't sound too disheartening, Anke.

PS: WE are just down the road from Newtown, near Longnewton.

[Daisys Mum]

Hi and welcome from the east side of the Borders, I am in Reston, right in the middle of the village with 6 acres behind my house. We spent a long time looking for houses with land and had all but given up when we bought this house, it had no land and it took quite a while before we could persuade 2 ajoining farmers to part with 3 acres each.

As Anke suggested it may be worth looking for a farm cottage to rent along with some land, quite often arable farmers have small pockets of land which is of no use to them as they have no livestock, I have a friend who rents several fields like this for her ponies.