There are a number of general comments about the fields that we offer which will hopefully answer many of your questions. However, during the legal process to buy a field you should verify the details of the particular field as from time to time there will inevitably be exceptions, especially for things we can't change like the position of a public footpath.

What can you do?
Some sellers of agricultural land want people to indulge in wishful thinking and pay over the odds because they hope one day they will be able to build a house, but we prefer to tell it like it really is: The fields are NOT suitable for residential or other non-agricultural building as planning permission is not likely to be granted. They ARE suitable for investment purposes as agricultural lettings, for creating woodlands, raising chickens, bee keeping, growing vegetables, keeping horses, etc or for amenity uses such as picnicking, camping at the weekend, riding horses and so on..

Whilst it is possible to get connected to utilities, you should assume that the land has no electrical supply and no mains water or other services unless stated. However, for modest supplies, solar power and wind power can be used for generating electricity and field drains, ditches and ponds usually have fairly clean but untreated water that can be used for animals or filtered for human consumption. You can check mobile phone coverage when you visit the land.

You must inspect the fields to see if they are suitable for your needs. You can visit whenever you like, I suggest you print the details on this website to take with you and check the Ordnance Survey map for further details and location. There is a link to the online version of Ordnance Survey maps. Also check the Ordnance Survey for footpaths, bridlepaths, overhead power lines, watercourses, etc.

Rights
Whilst it all needs to be verified during the legal sales process, you may start by assuming that all the land on this website is offered freehold including the shooting and mineral rights unless otherwise stated. There may be rights of way to adjoining fields and public footpaths, but we try to arrange things so that these run along the edge of a plot we are offering. Where we create a new right of way for access to a field, it will be 5 metres wide and the right includes passage on foot, horse, bike, motor vehicle or whatever, i.e. without restriction.

When we sell land we impose no new restrictions on it's use. There may be pre-existing conditions (like an obligation to contribute to maintenance of a track) but otherwise you can do what you like within the law and planning regulations. Obviously your neighbours may not like what you are doing and you may not like what they are doing, but that's the case wherever you buy land.

Boundaries
If we split a larger field, we try to use existing obvious features such as the corner of a field to mark the endpoints to avoid disputes in the future. We may need to use only one such endpoint and a compass bearing (North, East, etc). This bearing will always be geographic NOT magnetic because the magnetic bearing changes with time. To do this, consult an Ordnance Survey map to find out what the difference is for the particular location and year and adjust your compass bearing accordingly. We also mark the line with posts whose top is painted with a particular colour for your convenience. However we may not do this immediately and they should not be relied upon as someone could move them.

If we know who owns a boundary, we will tell you, but sometimes nobody knows. Conventionally, if there is a ditch and a hedge, the boundary is in the centre of the ditch and the hedge belongs to the owner on that side. Think early medieval defences and you see the logic.

Financial Issues
Even land that you can't build on is going up in value, in 2003 prices increased by 7.3%, see this article on the BBC website. Remember that the larger the block of land, the lower the price per acre; the closer to a town/village, the more expensive it will be. So 5000 acres of Scottish island will be cheap per acre, but 1 acre in North London will be expensive per acre. We make our cut by buying large blocks and splitting them into smaller plots. However, by the time the lawyers and the bank have collected their fees, there is only a small percentage left and thus our prices have to be fixed and making us low offers is not useful. On the other hand, we think our prices are already a quite a bit lower than anything comparable in the same area and sometimes we can split fields or join plots up to get the size you need or to match what you want to spend, so ask if it's not quite what you want.

A new article on the BBC News website says that the average price per hectare is now £10,000 compared to £7000 last year. (1 hectare = 2.47 acres). The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors says that agricultural land prices rose 30% in the last year (2004) and 130% in the last 10 years. This is far better than you can do putting your money in a bank account, even before you consider the tax advantages, before you create income from letting it (for example) and you don't have the maintenance costs that come with buy-to-let houses. There is no council tax and drainage charges payable to the Environment Agency tend to be of the order of only £1 per acre per year. For more information about fishing rights, drainage charges, various environmental licences, etc see the Environment Agency website here.

Here is another useful article that explains how "lifestyle buyers" are pushing up the price of farmland, and this is yet another and one more.

Everything that is available is on the website. If there is nothing that suits you, sign up in the "Change Alarm" box and when we add or change something, you will be notified automatically.

The information on this website is provided for general guidance and does not form part of any contract for sale or purchase. We advise you to seek professional legal guidance before entering into any contract.

If you would like further information then email us with your questions. We are not agents, we are the vendors and we don't have details on paper to send out, but if there is something you need to know that isn't mentioned on the website, please ask.