How much do you pay for farm land on average?
How much do you pay for farm land on average?
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Discussion

z_chromozone

Original Poster:

1,436 posts

272 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
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Morning all,

I am looking to buy a field from a farmer. Not looking to develop it, just have an area for the kids to run around in.

Any ideas,

Z

jas xjr

11,309 posts

262 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
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last time i looked it was £2000 per acre. obviously depends on how much the farmer thinks you want it

Jasandjules

71,963 posts

252 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
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Around here 2.5-3k per acre is about right, though the local farmer now asks for 5k p.a. and people aren't buying it!

Trommel

20,407 posts

282 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
quotequote all
Anything up to £7k per acre, depending on what (pasture is obviously a bit less expensive) and where it is.

wiffmaster

2,616 posts

221 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
quotequote all
Actually, the average is just under £5k an acre now - source

That is of course just a national average. I see you're in Buckinghamshire. We own a farm in neighbouring Hertfordshire and land here has been trading at around £7000 an acre. Couple this with the fact that the farmer is likely to jack up his prices if he knows you're keen to buy, and it could get quite expensive.

Good luck!

z_chromozone

Original Poster:

1,436 posts

272 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
quotequote all
Thanks for the info. I realise that he will jack up the price, but I don't want too big a piece.



Z

Ry_B

2,256 posts

224 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
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What's your idea?

Backtobasics

1,182 posts

206 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
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Depends on plot size, currently between 10 and 20k

Trommel

20,407 posts

282 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
quotequote all
Backtobasics said:
Depends on plot size, currently between 10 and 20k
£20k per acre for agricultural land? I have some you can buy if you like ...

base

321 posts

203 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
quotequote all
land can go for silly amounts, i see little point asking for a guide price on the net, as its down to how much the farmer wants to take the piss 3.6 acres went for 68k up the road from us last year last year i paid 200k for 22 acres too much money but to expand the business it was a pill i had to swallow.

Trommel

20,407 posts

282 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
quotequote all
Average prices are not £20k per acre - small blocks can obviously fetch higher prices if someone wants them badly enough (especially for non-agricultural uses).

TimJMS

2,584 posts

274 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
quotequote all
As above, basically. Why is it everytime I read about someone wanting to buy ag land here on PH, they feel the need to qualify the statement by saying something along the lines of 'of course, I dont wish to develop it'?. We all know you dont want to develop it wink

Anyone selling land with the slightest chance of development would be foolish not to slap a covenant on it anyway.

Beyond Rational

3,544 posts

238 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
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You will also need planning permission for change of use, would it be better to rent the field?

dutchgray

668 posts

245 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
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It's always more expensive if your buying a bit to go with your house, you can only buy that one bit and the farmer is not going to let it go for the normal agricultural rate, my dad has just bought another 2 1/2 acres behind our house as the farmer was selling the whole field so it was the last chance to get hold of that bit and it cost £18 k something and this is in Dorset.

SmokinV8

786 posts

234 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
quotequote all
z_chromozone said:
Thanks for the info. I realise that he will jack up the price, but I don't want too big a piece.



Z
Thats exactly what I thought 3 years ago when I spoke to my friendly farmer neighbour and asked if he would sell me the corner piece of the field adjacent to my house. He said yeah mark out what you want and we'l see from there. So I duly marked out an area which was circa 0.25 acre and he came back with the price of................£25k!!!

So be warned of a shock!!

Backtobasics

1,182 posts

206 months

Saturday 1st August 2009
quotequote all
Trommel said:
Backtobasics said:
Depends on plot size, currently between 10 and 20k
£20k per acre for agricultural land? I have some you can buy if you like ...
wink Thanks. Seriously my wife has been looking for a couple of acres to put her horses on with temporary shelters for the horses. 1.2 acres went for over £20000 near us recently. I wouldn't have believed it myself as I always thought you were looking around £5000 per acre. It could just be where she is looking that inflates the prices....

wiffmaster

2,616 posts

221 months

Sunday 2nd August 2009
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Backtobasics said:
;) Thanks. Seriously my wife has been looking for a couple of acres to put her horses on with temporary shelters for the horses. 1.2 acres went for over £20000 near us recently. I wouldn't have believed it myself as I always thought you were looking around £5000 per acre. It could just be where she is looking that inflates the prices....
She's likely to be looking for equestrian land then, which often attracts much higher prices than agricultural. Different classification in the eyes of the law (I think - I wait to be corrected!)

t11ner

6,885 posts

218 months

Sunday 2nd August 2009
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I don't think you need any change of use etc to stick a horse on a field although any anciliary buildings would presumably need permission.

For sure though any owner will ramp up the price for a smaller area of land. As with anything it'll be worth what someone is willing to pay for it and a horse owner or someone who wants somwhere that their kids can ride a quad will generally consider one acre to be worth a lot more than a farmer who has to get an income back off it.

SJobson

13,609 posts

287 months

Sunday 2nd August 2009
quotequote all
t11ner said:
I don't think you need any change of use etc to stick a horse on a field although any anciliary buildings would presumably need permission.
If it's a field adjoining your garden and you wish to make it part of your garden, that's a change of use (well, unless you farm your existing garden wink) Going from farming to domestic is not automatically permitted.

If it were pasture and you just put a gate into it for your kids to go through and run about, you should be fine, from a planning point of view, though.

Chrisgr31

14,211 posts

278 months

Sunday 2nd August 2009
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SJobson said:
t11ner said:
I don't think you need any change of use etc to stick a horse on a field although any anciliary buildings would presumably need permission.
If it's a field adjoining your garden and you wish to make it part of your garden, that's a change of use (well, unless you farm your existing garden wink) Going from farming to domestic is not automatically permitted.

If it were pasture and you just put a gate into it for your kids to go through and run about, you should be fine, from a planning point of view, though.
Although I suspect operating a Quad bike all day every day might upset the neighbours and I am not sure what action could be taken. But if there were complaints I would guess the authorities woud be looking at breach of planning laws, and anti-social behaviour.

Mind you without planning consent for change of use it will make selling the house and land in due course more complex.