Woodland for sale - what do people do with it?

[Ari]

captainzep said:

People wanting to buy woodland through the main UK agents these days might find that covenants around use have to be signed as conditions of sale. This normally writes off any motor racing or firearms.

I doubt they're policed though - bit like covenants on houses saying no vans or caravans, no one takes much notice.

[Steve H]

It is nice having a patch of woodland to wonder through. I planted about 2000 trees @ 18" tall on 2 acres about ten years ago and they are up at 30' now, it's been a real pleasure to see it progress and no real effort once they're in. I just mow a path through with a ride-on a few times a year and take out any branches on the path with a hedge trimmer so there's a clear route through.

Plenty of wildlife in there so we get big hares etc lolling round and we've also dug a decent size pond which has moorhens and ducks on it plus occasional herons trying to eat the baby moorhens and a kingfisher comes round catching the tiddlers that are in there.

It's a nice outlook from the house, not dead expensive to do if you're lucky enough to have a bit of ground in the first place and it makes me happy that I've got a bit of balance against the pollution I cause with my cars, trackdaying, instructing, racing etc.

[Ari]

I'm actually quite fancying the idea now.!

[Steve H]

Although if you can't live right by it my guess is you wouldn't end up spending much time there....................

[MrBrightSi]

There's woodland behind an old pit site in the village my parents live, that was sold to guys who turned it into a big airsoft area. I have to admit i did enjoy going years ago, was a fun way of running around and being the man-child we're meant to be now and again, in private and with friends.

I'd do the same as they've come from being some messy, ruined and undeveloped site into something fairly decent, hidden away and makes use of the land without building on it. Yes i'd prefer if it was just undisturbed and natural, but compared to new housing it's more preferable, plus this spot of land was sadly used by all sorts of nobbers who respected nothing green in the first place.

I'd like to do the same, there's nothing like teenage lads having a laugh winding up middle aged men far too into a quite expensive hobby who take it far too seriously. Also i'd be getting paid to allow this to happen.

[iphonedyou]

A family member works in venture capital and buys forestry in Wales for subsidies.

That's all I know.

[ASA569]

227bhp said:

It can be bought to stop people from building on it or near you and just preserve it for what it is.

An old boss of mine did exactly this. He lives in a very beautiful part of the county and was horrified to discover woodland just a few miles from him was cleared for housing. When the woodland beside his house came on the market he bought it and is now enjoying his retirement as a lumberjack maintaining the land

He looks much fitter and healthier for it too

[PositronicRay]

ASA569 said:

227bhp said:

It can be bought to stop people from building on it or near you and just preserve it for what it is.

An old boss of mine did exactly this. He lives in a very beautiful part of the county and was horrified to discover woodland just a few miles from him was cleared for housing. When the woodland beside his house came on the market he bought it and is now enjoying his retirement as a lumberjack maintaining the land

He looks much fitter and healthier for it too

I can see this.

The idea of a remote piece of woodland is a romantic one, but I don't see what I'd get from it. Okay if I could afford a forest or a wooded valley with a stream down to a private cove, but an acre or two would be of little use to me.

[RizzoTheRat]

I'm a farmers son and my parents old place had about a small wood quite close the house, probably only an acre or so, but it kept my parents, sister, me and my uncle supplied with firewood for years. With a bigger wood making charcoal is supposed to be reasonably profitable if you can afford the time.

[OtherBusiness]

It's also used as a way of cutting stamp duty

Edited by OtherBusiness on Monday 25th September 14:27

[captainzep]

ASA569 said:

An old boss of mine did exactly this. He lives in a very beautiful part of the county and was horrified to discover woodland just a few miles from him was cleared for housing. When the woodland beside his house came on the market he bought it and is now enjoying his retirement as a lumberjack maintaining the land

He looks much fitter and healthier for it too

I think this is part of the point of it for me.

I used to keep fit by running a lot but I drive much more now and ironically now I live in a rural area it's harder to jog safely with no pavements. I eat too many biscuits and come back from work knackered
and ready for a beer. Hence 3 stone heavier.

They call working outside a "green gym" and I know that if I bought a woodland I'd work hard physically and enjoy it. In my 40's with an expanding gut and reducing fitness the cost of the woodland may be an important "health" investment in myself.

[anonymous-user]

We've got 8 acres that runs alongside one of our fields, a canal and the village rec

In the middle of it, it really does feel as if you are in the middle of nowhere, but you are also 10 minutes walk away from a pint and/or a shower.


We haven't used it as much as I would have liked but we have had a few camping nights and when the kids were younger they could go off "exploring" whilst being within easy reach.


With a bit more effort it could be a really very pleasant place to spend more time.

[Yipper]

Advantages of woodland:

• Good investment;
• Tax-friendly;
• Free or sellable wood;
• Nurturing a big garden;
• Kids and grandkids enjoy exploring;
• Wild camping;
• Outdoor parties and barbies;
• Peace, quiet, and wildlife.

Disadvantages of woodland:

• Can take years to sell;
• Can be expensive to maintain;
• Can be lots of annoying restrictions or covenants on usage;
• Insurance can get tricky if someone has an accident on your land;
• Thieves can be a problem in some parts of the country;
• Members of the caravanning community may pop round.

[rodericb]

For the storage of grot mags? Or am I thinking of hedges?

[StuTheGrouch]

How do you keep the public out of it?

[anonymous-user]

StuTheGrouch said:

How do you keep the public out of it?

We have fencing and gated access - kids still get in but that doesn't really bother me.

It's difficult to stop access in total, but easy to stop people gaining right of access and right of way.

[ReaderScars]

StuTheGrouch said:

How do you keep the public out of it?

With a bit of additional investment you'd probably make a decent income from them being in it:

https://goape.co.uk/adventures/treetopadventure

[Some Gump]

Dogging.

[anonymous-user]

They use it to reduce SDLT when moving house according to the Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/personal-banking/mortga...

ETA: the scheme at it's most basic level as mentioned in the article: buy £1k of forest in Nottinghamshire in conjunction with a Mayfair mansion with the result being that the mixed SDLT rate applies to the whole transaction is, frankly, laughable.

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 25th September 13:02

[FocusRS3]

Sorry for dragging up an old thread but wondering if anyone here has jumped in.

I have been looking into this quite a bit lately and see the benefits of land ownership.

You can basically do as much or a little as you like. Get the kids off Xbox etc and still use the tax advantages.

There also seems a fairly healthy secondary market when you want to sell but of course you are best off using the agent to sell

Edited by FocusRS3 on Monday 29th October 14:26