Does anyone know about buying land ?

3.7 acres of pasture land has come up very close to home, which would be ideal for our horse (and 1 or 2 others) ... any advice ?!?

Do you have to get permission to put stables up, if so from whom ?

There's a right of way diagonally across the field, could I fence it off ? Could I divert it around the side of the field ?

How do you go about getting a water feed to a field ?

What about the legal side, surveys, etc (like when buying a house) ?

Any advice gratefully received !!!

 

Thanks Marley ! I presume I could fence off down the centre of the field, where the path is ... i.e. make the path a "corridor" down the field with fence either side ? Any idea of how wide that "corridor" would have to be ? Ta !

 

do a index map search of the land to see if there are any cautions on it (problems,
or ransome lands etc) this can be do through solicitor and land registy cost about £8

 

I think a path would be about min 1 meter, but not sure

 

If the land is agri land, you may have to get planning for change of use for horse's, but again not sure

make sure all boundary are registered, ditches are grey area's and can could be problems in furture

 

You would need to check a number of things.

* What land use class is it? I have 3 acres, 1.2 of which are agricultural, 1.8 recreational. That means I'm allowed to do more on one side of a hedge than the other, though I'm not quite sure what.

* What you can do is partly down to your local authority. They are in charge of all planning issues. Before you can even pick the head off a ragwort you have to convince a squad of old ladies sat in an office miles from your land that you have a good reason to do so.

* If you erect fences across the land, you are likely to need planning permission. Planning authorities are paranoid about the land being divided up and sold for development. There may also be the argument that the fence will affect local wildlife (some birds for example prefer wide open spaces apparently)

* If you re-route the path without making a good case for doing so, the ramblers (people who trample everything and pick holes with their pointy sticks, and then complain about erosion) will just go where their trusty OS map in its plastic cover on a string told them to walk.

* You will need planning permission to erect stables, although I'm told that this is easier to get than it would be for some other identical structure but not called stables, this is, I'm told, due to some ancient law to do with livery or something.

* You will need to check what exactly you are buying. Are you buying the land? the mineral rights? Who has access? Is it common land (contrary to popular belief, common land doesn't mean unowned land, it just means you can't do anything with it)

* Are there any proposed or approved developments that will affect the land, such as new roads, sewage works or anything else that might mean people being allowed to dig big holes in your land?

There's much to think about. Definately worth forking out for a solicitor to handle it all rather than a DIY job.

 

Is the path used regularly?
Could it be that if you could prove that the path haven't been used for many years for its purpose-in spite of being a public footpath- you would be allowed to have it?

 

If it appears on an OS map, it is a right of way. An old law means you have to prove that the path has never been used for more than 100 years before you can get rid of it.

Or if its dangerous, like if a tree is in danger of falling on your head if you walk along it.

 

By no means a legal eagle but do know a fair bit about horses having them myself at home for many years.Number 1 question to me is water. I'd maybe start with your local water board who'd maybe/should! be able to tell you where the closest connection would be or maybe the vendor would know if they own other land surrounding the plot for sale. 3.7 acres isn't exactly a huge amount of ground when our "little darlings" decide to do impersonations of The Charge of the Light Brigade! The old rule of thumb was 3 acres for 1 horse, 5 acres for 2, 7 for 3 and so on ie 2 acres per extra after the 1st horse. It also depends a huge amount on the type of ground especially the drainage. Flat fields are great from a human point of view when catching but not so good for drainage and there is good reason why most farmers HATE horses as they are so punishing to ground and are very fussy grazers eating down parts to nothing and leaving other parts untouched.It would also be helpful for you to know how long the field has been grazed as old turf stands up much better than a field that has only been grass for a few years. Another thing is if you are thinking about year round ad lib grazing or not as this makes a huge difference to how much land you need. The usual problem is having enough land so it doesn't get drastically poached but if you have enough then you are up to your eyeballs during the grass growing season as the horses can't eat the field down to a nice shortish level and you have to pay someone to top it. If you are thinking of erecting stables then that will reduce the amount of land for grazing AND you will have to think about electricity, muck heaps/storage for feed/hay,tack, also maybe parking for trailers/lorries which again take up land. The local authority can be quite "hot" on muck heaps especially if they are anywhere near water courses and how do you intend to dispose of the heap? which OMG grows at alarming rate . I'm not trying to put you off just maybe pointing out the bare minimum of things to think about.The right of way if used regularly would immediately put me right off personally as there are too many "strange people" around who might think it "fun" to open the gates or attempt a free ride, but you'd be a better judge than I knowing the area.If you are serious about a possible purchase I'd definitely get legal advice to make sure what you'd like to do you can. Even access to the field needs to be checked and if it allows vehicular access.Hope you can work things out as there is no doubt it's so much better to have horses under our personal care rather than in a livery situation. Good luck.

 

very interesting insight about owning horses

clueless1 just wondering: how can one prove that the path has not be used for that lenght of time! Considering an average lifespan is not even 100 years...

 

I have no idea. There are many quirky laws that seem to be totally arbitrary.