Land prices?

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Land prices?
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sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 12:48 pm Post subject: Land prices?

Just got back from a long anticpated family holiday in the US (mostly doing the National Parks so in the mid west) and I was really staggered by the amount of land available for purchase over there. Of course I knew it was a big country and most areas are relatively underpopulated, but I wasn't prepared for the amount of really yummy looking plots advertised all over the place (Even saw a 38 acre mesa advertised for the equivalent of about ï¿½30k if anyone wanted their own private mountain top!). Anyway, I have no intention of shifting over there, but it did get me thinking again about the long term plan we have of getting hold of about 5 acres on which we can build (strawbale roundhouse basically), plant trees and have a few crops and chickens.

Last time I looked it was very hard to get any good overviews of land prices anad availability, most agencies want a sign-up fee before you can see their prices. Does anyone here know of an accessible free online overview of land prices across the UK? I think I need to spend a year of two just watching how the prices and availability vary to get the hang of whats available, but I'm not sure of the best place to start. Any advice??

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 12:56 pm Post subject:

Two things:

1. Agricultural ties
You may find a lot of properties that have ties, these mean that you must derive the majority of your income from agriculture in order to purchase. Ties can be broken in some cases but this is usually a long drawn out procedure.

2. Planning Consent
If you're lucky enough to find a plot that has no dwelling on it and no outline planning permission then that usually means you're not going to get consent for a permanent dwelling (although that's not always the case). You may get consent to convert agricultural buildings into residential (however dilapidated they are)

Prices:
Can be anywhere from ï¿½2000 - ï¿½30000k an acre depending on location but more importantly development potential, anywhere with outline planning permission will be even more.

Where to look:
www.primelocation.com have a farms and land section, then there's ruralscene.co.uk and of course any local land agents.

Blue Peter

Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 2400
Location: Milton Keynes

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 12:59 pm Post subject:
Summarizing an agent in the MK area: If there is any chance of development potential: ï¿½30K+ per acre. For horse grazing land - well fenced and watered: ï¿½10 or ï¿½15k per acre. For small blocks of pure agricultural land: ï¿½5k per acre may be all you would have to pay. Peter. [Oh, and with definite availability to build: ï¿½200k+ for 600 sq metres.]

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 1:01 pm Post subject: land prices

we have been looking for a while in suffolk and the prices have been steadily rising.........

the last lot of agricultural land we look at wen for just over 3k an acre but that was straight agricultural land that you would have to spend another lot of money on to fence and put dopwn to grazing and there was no immediate chance of planning permission either.

if you want grazing land you pay a lot more.recently there was a plot of 8 acres of grazing potential land with water and dutch barn which was priced as betwee 80k and 90k!!!!

the prices have surely rocketed in the last few years in this area as people with money buy land as an investment which consequently puts up the price.

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 1:52 pm Post subject:
Oh its all quite depressing really, our current 4 bedroom end of terrace is worth about ï¿½30k which is a lot for this valley, and the cheapest land with permission/buildings I can find is about ï¿½125k, how on earth do people finance land knowing their income is going to be minimal once they are smallholding? ANyone know any banks worth robbing?

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 2:03 pm Post subject:
It's a pain isn't it. You either have to be lucky in the housing market, very well off or probably both. And there's an irony that you can't downsize comfortable until you've got ï¿½500K to play with. Some midwest towns are giving away land now to attract epeople back fro the cities. I did toy with the idea of buying an acre od desert for $1 when i was last there.

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 2:07 pm Post subject: land prices

land in the states is cheap but some places you would need a whole lot of land to do what we can do on an acre as it simply won't support grazing on a more intensive scale and water isn't always freely available either

there are still areas of the u.s. which are unowned by anybody and you can have several acres from uncle sam to set up on and if you can survive for a specified period of time it's yours...........

there is still some in montana i think........................but you would start from zero and work up - be like livingin the wild west - not easy and MILES from the nearest town

Blue Peter

Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 2400
Location: Milton Keynes

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 2:08 pm Post subject:

Behemoth wrote:

It's a pain isn't it.

It's just the fact that we live on a small, highly populated island, unfortunately. I don't really know what the answer is. Perhaps the only solution is a co-operative one, where people club together to buy a farm. But that seems fraught with difficulties.

Peter.

ButteryHOLsomeness

Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 7:15 pm Post subject:

i have no idea of land prices around here, expensive i'd wager though there is some prime looking farmland south of edinburgh

i had a look on the rural scene website and i'm in love with this site

https://ruralscene.co.uk/look/frame.asp

18 acres 7 of them mature woods with a stream at the bottom 5 bedroom house plus huge barn with planning permission and oh, you can buy the house next door which has 16.5 acres and also a large barn with planning permission... smallholding heaven? i think so! too bad it's not in scotland

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 7:18 pm Post subject: land prices
avoid anything that says equestrian as that pushes the price up several grand

Viking_Chick

Joined: 21 May 2005
Posts: 123

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 7:30 pm Post subject:

Whatever you do - *don't* go for the 180acres with house in Papa Stour, Shetland on the rural scene website!

Its not the fact that it is a very small island, or the fact that there is a population of about 20, or the fact its so far north. But with a population so low you would hope for a good community spirit etc - it is totally lacking. There is a major feud that splits the island in two figuratively speaking) - I would not recommend staying somewhere so small with such major problems. The school closed - not because there were no children, but because the children's parents felt that teh teacher was biased towards the 'other side' - depsite there being no other kids on the island.

Not worth the hassle....

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 7:34 pm Post subject: land prices
that's awful viking their island will surely die and then they will moan that they places will all be bought by outsiders for holiday homes instead of people who want to do something with it it will be their own fault

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 7:43 pm Post subject: Re: land prices

Nanny wrote:

there is still some in montana i think........................but you would start from zero and work up - be like livingin the wild west - not easy and MILES from the nearest town

Sounds great - where do I sign? We liked montana, although we like utah better (except for the mormons, who wouldn't let me have a G and T and a glass of wine. I had to let them take my gin glass away, before they would let me have a wine glass!)

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 7:48 pm Post subject: land prices
i would imagine you would apply to the land agents of the u.s. government.......start at the embassy and see what happens that was where the land for that programme the Frontier House came from can you shoot? you would need to...............and i don't mean just the wild life.....

ButteryHOLsomeness

Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 8:05 pm Post subject:

i had an ex boyfriend that went to uni in wyoming. now this was about 15 years ago but back then the entire state only had a population of 300,000 and i can't see that number being much higher now...

montana, north and/or south dakota are also sparsely populated with a LOT of wide open and relatively flat spaces (well some are surrounded by mountains)

you'd have to be prepared for extremes in weather though and your agricultural leanings would need to be more towards livestock and less towards produce but you could have a decent life out there.

doesn't appeal to me but i'm sure it would to plenty!

i think they old land grant thing they set up back in the 1800's is still running as well though you'd have plenty of moneygrubbing company's trying to fight you for a lot of land because they want mineral and drilling rights

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