Planning Permission For Static Caravan. Now there are many, many people who will say that you cannot place a static caravan on your small farm.

Well, they would if they don’t know how to go about it and what you need to do to get the legal right to have one on your land.

Now I’ve been to many forums and almost all of them say. If you ask the question “Can I Have A Static Caravan On My Land”

I Will put you in your place and say outright “NO” or why do you need a static caravan. Why not go with a Touring caravan..? Maybe it’s because you don’t want to.

It’s not like you’re telling them what car they should buy or drive. It’s your choice and you have the right to do what you want.

So stay away from forums if you want to know about this subject.

Many of the members are good-intentioned, but there are some that are just vicious. They don’t want to see you have a static caravan on land and if you are looking to do it. Then you must be a Traveler or something.

If you intend to live in the caravan straight away then you will need planning permission. You can live in the caravan without planning and if you don’t get caught for 10 years and 1 day then you get the right of lawfulness.

We will get to that bit a little later on in the post. At the moment we are just talking about being able to have a static caravan on your land without planning permission.

Not to live in at first but to use along with your farm.

How To Get A Static Caravan On Your Land & You Do Not Need Planning

The Difference Between Static & Touring Caravan

Now many people will say that they are totally different and yes they look different. Also as you know one you can pull behind your car another stays still. But they are both the same in the eyes of the “LAW”.

Legal Definition Of A Caravan?

The legal definition of a mobile home is the same as that of a static caravan.

It covers any structure designed or adapted for people to live in which is capable of being moved from one place to another.

Now whether by being towed or by being transported on a motor vehicle or trailer and any motor vehicle so designed or adapted.

It also includes twin units separately constructed and designed for assembly on-site, provided that the twin unit is physically capable of being moved or transported on a motor vehicle or trailer.

How Do You Get A Caravan On Your Land Without Planning

If you are talking about placing a caravan at your home to live in. It has to be in the curtilage of your garden then no planning is needed to live in it.

But you do need planning permission to live in a caravan on agricultural land.

If you are placing a caravan on your land whether that’s a static or touring you also do not need to have planning permission to do this. We are talking about placing a static caravan on your land not living in it we will get to that in a little while.

What you do need to be doing is farming the land. The reason for this is because you as a worker or maybe you are going to employee workers. You have to provide “Health & Safety In The Work Place” this is the law.

And a static caravan provides all the amenities that would be needed to keep workers comfortable. You would also be abiding by the law by providing them with what they need.

If you are wanting to live on your farm in a caravan I will get to that in a minute.

But if you think you are going to be able to place a caravan on a piece of land and live in it without doing any sort of farming.

You are so wrong and will be moved off. After being served an “Enforcement Notice” to remove your caravan and given 30 days to do it or should I say comply.

Also, this is not about getting a cheap home without being a farmer. It’s about helping small farmers live and farm their land. Not for people to come in and make big money trying to buck the system.

So How Can You Go About Placing A Static Caravan On Your Farm

So as I’ve mentioned above you can use the “Health & Safety In The Work Place” this is needed for any employer to provide their workers. This is how I did it and you do not need planning for it.

Asking Local Planning Officer

Don’t do it…! If you ask a “Council Planning Officer” if you can site a Static Caravan on your Agricultural Land. Trust me you will get one of two answers. Either put in a planning application costing you money.

This will be denied unless you have a means-tested business plan for your farm. Or you will get an outright “NO”. Now you may think a Planning Officer knows all the planning laws…?

Wrong trust me there are a lot out there that don’t know most of the “Planning Laws” and probably never read their “Local Planning Policies” and “National planning Policies”.

Just Put The Caravan On Your Land

Now I say this even if you haven’t started farming yet. This is what I did because I needed to work on the farm. So I needed these amenities to use while building up my farm.

I had it on there for five years and nobody said a thing.

It was only because I purchased a newer model as the old one was looking a bit tatty. That someone called the “Enforcement Officer”.

Now I had also built 3 buildings without planning permission. But this is not against the law and you can apply for “Retrospective Planning Permission”.

I got my planning passed without a problem because I had such a good business idea and a plan for farming the land.

But the “Enforcement Officer” was walking around and saying this will have to go that will have to go etc.

I’m thick-skinned I don’t scare easily which I think he was trying to do. But I kept my cool and thought I don’t think so.

So I applied for planning and it all passed no problems except the time they took to pass it as they asked me for an extra £356 which I refused to pay.

The cost was only £79 so why should I pay extra for what the law says it should be…?

Think about how many people get ripped off every year from planning departments asking for uncalled-for extra income…?

If you come across this problem question the extra and research the answer they give you. If you apply on the online “Planning Portal” you will know exactly what the cost will be.

Let’s Get Back To Siting Your Static Caravan

Now, remember that I said bring the caravan on straight away without asking anyone.

Well, when doing this put the caravan in an area that is not going to make the caravan stick out like a sore thumb.

Do not put it right next to the road or your neighbour’s boundary. Pick an area of your land that is well away from both of these.

Maybe plant some large leylandii so that it breaks up the look of the caravan. Also, purchase a Green or Cream colour these seem to blend in with the area and surrounding farmland.

Now if you haven’t started your farm then you need to get on it straight away. If an “Enforcement Officer” turns up and you’re working the land. Then this is going to be a good look.

But if they turn up and it’s just a nice grass field and knocks on the door and you just look like you have fallen out of bed. Well, let’s just say that’s not going to go down with them very well.

But if you have turned all your soil over if growing for Market Gardens or have Lots of Sheep or maybe like me Lots of Chicken Tractors breeding pure breed poultry. Then they will see you are trying to become a farmer.

Also, the fact that fewer and fewer young people are getting into farming is good. Even if you only have a couple of acres like me that’s enough land to farm. And make a good living if you pick the right “Niche Market”

I mean would you rather test out your farming skills on a couple of thousand-acre farms..? You wouldn’t know where to start, start small, grow slowly and make your farming experience a great experience.

If You Want To Live In Your Static Caravan

Then you are going to have to put together a business plan that can show you can earn a minimum income of the national average of £26,000 a year.

But you can still move into your caravan without applying for Planning Permission while building your business up.

Now you have to do this carefully and what I am saying is. Let’s say you have started your farm and you’re doing just fine and making a profit while living at your regular home.

Then you ask for the right to live on your farm in a caravan because you are making the minimum income needed of £26000 if you were already living on the land.

But if you have grown a profitable farm while living away from the farm then ask the council if you can live on the farm.

The local planning department is going to say well why do you need to live on the land if your farm is doing just fine where you live now..?.

So it is always better to live on the farm while growing your business to the minimum income needed.

Now you can start your farm and start making money before you decide to give up your home to move onto the farmland but keep it below £26.000.

This way when you do move on the land you will already have a business making a profit but not as much as needed.

But you will have a good start to get to the amount to live on the land legally. You will be in a better financial starting position to make that one years minimum income.

Than if you started from scratch living in the caravan and had three years and a bare farm to make that amount and good business. So starting to farm your land first and getting things ready is going to stand you in good stead for your big move.

How To Get Around The Planning System For Living On Your Farm

Now, let’s look at from another angle you sell your home or give up your rented accommodation and move straight into the static caravan without planning permission.

You will almost certainly get a visit from the local council, but now you have nowhere else to live and evicting you from your home. Well, this just doesn’t look good for the council planners and its not good publicity.

I mean your only trying to start a small farming business to help the local community and hopefully give back to the community in the future. While also making a living from the land.

So what you need to be doing is writing that business plan if you haven’t already done it. I am also not talking about keeping just a couple of different animals. It has to be an economically viable business plan that will make you an income from the land.

Also a little. information you may not know and that’s in the history of evicting people from their land.

There have only been 3 cases one you may remember where an old guy shot the local enforcement officer dead. Probably not the smartest move for the enforcement department. But a terrible thing nonetheless.

Also, I’m not talking about large settlers of many caravans with families living in them. I’m talking about just one family.

So you have a great chance to stay on that land living in your static caravan. But at this stage, you will have to apply for planning and probably attend a “Local Planning Committee Meeting”.

You will be given 3 minutes to state your case. Please don’t say things like “Well They Did It” so we should be allowed. You need to be calm and have all the facts and figures in front of you. As well as your business plan.

Also, why do you think you need to live on the land? Now if you are not good at speaking in front of people. Then practice with your wife or in front of your family. If you still can’t get to grips with it may be your wife or a friend could do the speaking part for you.

Remember you only have three minutes to put your case forward.

Now some people will say you should use a “Planning Consultant” well if you want to waste thousands of pounds that could help you grow your farm then waste it…!

But I say if you read your Local Planning Policy and National Planning Policies, also with a good Business Plan, both policies state they have to support small and large businesses for farming in the countryside. Then you will be able to do this on your own and save that hard-earned cash.

What Happens Next After the Planning Committee Meeting

Well if you are trying to be a real farmer and you should be and have written a good business plan. Then they will give you 3-5 years to live in a Static Caravan Legally.

And they will want to see you make the average minimum wage from that farming venture for one year out of the term they have given you.

If you manage to do this then they will grant planning permission for a real home and the size of that home will depend on how much you can earn from your farm.

So this is why it is best to start your farm as soon as possible. Meaning getting the land ready, and your website and marketing sorted. Plan out everything you are going to do and how much you intend to do.

Take online courses at a place like “SkillShare” on marketing, copywriting, taking good-quality images of your products etc. You get 2 Months Free. Which is more than enough time and it’s only £10 per month after your Free Trial and they have many, many more courses?

Then when you are ready to start your farm move onto the land. Use any money left over from the sale of your home or savings you have to build your business up.

So go out there and build your dream farm, check out other articles on my “Blog” you may find something of help to you…?

Remember You Do Not Need Planning Permission If You Do Not Intend To Live In The Caravan…?

The post No Planning Needed To Place Static Caravan On Your Land appeared first on The Small Farmer Life.

You might be thinking why does my small farm need a website or any farm come to think of it…? Especially at the beginning, which we will come to in a minute.

I mean the whole point about starting a small farm, smallholding, or homestead is to get away from all the crap and tech of today’s modern age.

This is true, in most cases we start a small farm to enjoy the outside again, the little things in life and get back to basics. Not to be online building an online store or writing a blog.

We all know that the internet has taken over books and is one of the best things ever to be given to mankind. As a learning tool or a selling tool, nothing beats it whatever you want to know or purchase it’s there somewhere.

Learning is important for new farmers, especially because we have never farmed before.

But so is spreading the word about your new farm and also selling for your farm. After all, you will need to attract buyers for your farming products.

This could be meat, speciality crops, selling of eggs, making of soaps whatever it is. There is no better way than a website to show it off.

Your farm is still a business or is going to be a business and every business needs a website in this day and age.

Even if it’s only a hobby farm a website is an extension of your farm plus hobby farms teach others knowledge.

If you choose to blog about your farm you can earn a very nice income from a blog. I’m talking in the thousands per month. There is nothing special about blogging it is really cheap and easy to get started.

There are many ways to make money from small farming. You can check out my post How To Make Your Small Farm Profitable.

Be sure to come back and read the full post to see how to earn even more money from your small farm’s website.

First Start A Blog As Soon As Possible

I would suggest you start a Blogging Website for your farm from the beginning. As soon as you have the land get to writing about it. The website will become a blogging diary for your farm and how far you have come for future reference.

More important than that the faster you get your site listed on Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines the better.

If you start writing your blog from the beginning of your small farming adventure and how things are going.

You might be thinking nobody wants to read about this but believe me they do. I mean you are reading my blog are you not..?

Trust me I get 10,000 plus readers per month and climbing

It will also be much easier to launch an online store off the back of a blog. Especially when that blog is already listed in search engines.

This is because it takes time for any website to rank in the Search Engine Results Pages. These are also referred to as SERPs.

If you start your blog straight away. Then when you are ready to sell products online. Your blog will already be showing up in the search results. Then it’s just a matter of linking your online store to your blog.

It’s as simple as writing an article telling your readers that you have now launched an online store. You will then already have an audience that may want to purchase from you and your farm over the internet.

But more than all of that blogging and selling online is great fun also profitable. You will be surprised at the number of readers you will get.

Millions of people dream of living off the land and it is a massive subject worldwide.

What is Blogging anyway…?

Blogging is basically writing about anything, in this case, your farm and your experiences. It’s simple to start as you can see from my blog.

You only need a single post to launch a blog. Then write one article weekly or monthly showing your readers how you are getting on with your small farm.

It takes around several months for your blog posts to start showing in search engines. So don’t be thinking you will only have one post and lots of people will be viewing it. But after several months you will have many articles and lots of people reading your blog. Simple..!

Did I also mention that you can earn a significant income from your small farm blog also..? This is by way of affiliate marketing and there are so many affiliate programs out there that can earn you extra income for writing about what you love.

Yes its true why do you think so may people are writing blogs these days

I have even started to earn a little extra income from my blog which is great and goes towards feeding my animals. Believe me when I say I am no computer genius so if I can do it so can you?

There is no reason why you cannot learn just like I did and have a website blog up and running in just a couple of weeks. It only takes a couple of hours of learning per week before you know-how and are up and running.

If you get stuck along the way. Do what I did and go and type in what you want to know into YouTube. I guarantee you will find the answer in minutes and it will be in a nice easy to follow video. Problem solved…!

Websites Are Not Expensive

This is one of the biggest reasons that may put people off is the cost. Thinking a website is going to be expensive and that you need all the money you have for your small farm. The truth is that it’s really cheap to launch a website.

The main costs behind websites are website designers. Which I am going to tell you, you don’t need. It is really simple to start a small blog or small online store without any coding knowledge whats so ever.

I’m talking less than a couple of hundred which is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Also nothing in terms of what you will get back from your website.

I have 2 websites one for my blog and one for my online store. We will discuss which type of website you need and how much it will cost for each type.

The Small farmer life blog I host with BlueHost and I purchased their 3-year plan which cost from £2.26 per month for three years.

My online store Ukpoultry.co.uk I use Shopify which costs me $29 a month. This is about what I sell 6 fertile hatching eggs for or 1 pullet hen. So I think it is well worth the monthly fee.

Is It Hard To Build A Website..?

In this day and age, you do not need to go to college or university to learn how to build a website. The prosses is easy to learn and there are mountains of online videos to help you through any problem you may come across.

This is great for someone like me who is building their first website. Whether it’s an online store to sell your farm products or you want to learn how to blog. It’s pretty easy to learn either one nowadays.

Now there are plenty of companies offering different platforms to use to sell online and to blog.

But I choose to use Shopify for my online store as it’s really simple to use and so many sources on YouTube to learn from. Not only that but they take care of everything from a free theme to online payments etc.

Now I could build my store into my WordPress blog to sell products online but this is a lot more complicated.

It is much easier to use a Shopify store which was built from the ground up to be an eCommerce platform and link to it from my blog.

I could also run my online blog from Shopify but Shopify is not the best platform to blog from. It was built to sell things so use it for that reason.

WordPress, on the other hand, was built for Blogging. So I choose to blog with WordPress as there are many more options.

So I sell my products with Shopify which is a lot less hassle than having a Blog and an Online Store together.

It’s easy to link your Blog to your Online Store this gives you the versatility and the advantages of both worlds.

Who Do I Use To Host My Sites..?

Now I recommend BlueHost for WordPress Hosting and for Blogging and I recommend Shopify for Online Selling. These two companies are giants in their industries.

I have never had any trouble with either of them and they are both simple to use. The customer service is awesome from both and any problems if you have any are sorted while you are chatting online.

Now I did my homework before I chose which Hosting to go with and also which eCommerce I would use to sell online.

But I have in the past used other types of providers and also pay monthly services like Wix.

But nothing beats having your own hosting, domain name and purchasing a ready-built theme.

After 5 years of using different types of websites. I think BlueHost is by far the best and cheapest for hosting your website. Other people may think differently but what are they hosting and what do they need from a hosting company.

I am certain that if you are looking for web hosting then BlueHost has a package to suit your needs.

Other Platforms To Blog From

There are many different types of blogging platforms out there. All offering different types of options and packages.

I am just trying to make things easy for you by telling you what I use and know something about.

I cannot speak for all the companies and providers out there because I have never used them. That is except Wix and a few hosting companies. Wix was pretty pathetic, to be honest.

The reason I choose WordPress to write my blog. Is because it’s the biggest platform for blogging in the world.

This means there is so much more information out there. There are so many plugins for everything or anything you may want to do. Have you seen fancy share buttons on a website you like..? I bet it is from a WordPress Plugin.

Also, the mountain of instructional videos on YouTube that will teach you everything you need to know is unbelievable.

Other platforms do not have the amount of help you may need. If you are new to website design and building I would stick to WordPress for this reason alone.

You can also easily move your website from one hosting company to another if you use WordPress and WordPress hosting companies.

Also, WordPress is Free, you still have to pay for Hosting and a Domain Name which costs around £12 per year.

Some hosting packages will give you a free domain for the first year with one of their hosting packages even BlueHost does.

But if you are a first-time customer when purchasing a domain name you can get them as cheap as 0.99p.

Always Purchase Your Domain Seperate From Your Hosting…!

I would always advise you to purchase your domain name from a domain name supplier that is different from your hosting company.

Have them both separate as sometimes a hosting company can make things difficult if you ever want to leave.

This has never happened to me but I have read about it in the past so for the price, why take the chance.

This gives you full control over every aspect of your website. If you ever want to move to new hosting then you simply point your domain to your new host.

WordPress Hosting For Your Small Farm Blog

There are many companies that offer WordPress hosting and it’s pretty cheap. I think really cheap.

The great thing about building your own website. Choosing your own hosting and domain name is that you are in control and not some web developer.

List of some Hosting Companies with great pricing.

• BlueHost – This is the hosting I use – Never had a problem
• Hostinger UK
• SiteGround
• JustHost – Have also used this hosting – Again never had a problem
• HostGator

Building and owning your own website is a real game-changer. You do not have to contact web developers to change this or that. You will also not be billed for changing small things on your website.

This is why I was so happy to learn how to use WordPress. If I wanted to make changes I could do it in five minutes.

You may think it is hard to learn but honestly, it is really easy. You will get to grips with it in no time and be well on your way to having your own blog.

Which Option Is Best For You..?

Well, this all depends on what you are doing with your farm. Are you just wanting to blog about your farm..?

If you are raising animals and selling their meat. You may want to start a blog and show your potential customers.

How you treat and raise your animals through images and blog posts. You can also show them videos which are easily integrated into your blog.

In this case, you just need a Cheap Hosting Package a Domain Name and a Blogging Theme.

Total cost around £200 for 3 years of hosting and a cool looking Theme like mine. You will have to pay for your domain yearly but it is around £12 per year.

Then if you decide to sell online in the future you can easily start an online store with Shopify.

If You Want To Sell Online

If you are selling fertile hatching eggs and other poultry-related products. Or if you are selling any other type of products that can be posted or mailed out.

You may want to start with a Shopify store. Or like me, you may want to start with both.

This is the great thing about being in control of your own online world it is all up to you. You can do anything you want and you can do it that very day and it won’t cost you a penny.

If you want to make changes you can and it will cost you nothing and can be done in minutes.

No more overcharging web design companies trying to get thousands per month out of you for a basic farm shop. Believe me, this is what they will try and charge you.

You can add any products you have available to your store in minutes. Start taking any orders and have them in the post for next day delivery. Any payments will go straight into your Paypal Account or Bank.

Shopify is the largest eCommerce platform out there, especially for new online stores. It is easy to set up and you even get a 14 day free trial with no credit card needed.

After that, the price is $29 a month which is nothing compared to what a web design company would charge to build you an online store. If you choose a web design company be sure to have several thousand just for a basic online store.

Another good thing about Shopify is that you can get a Point Of Sale Unit for your farm shop or farmers market if you have one. This integrates with your online store and any sales go straight into your bank account.

You can cancel your Shopify store at any time and you are not tied into a contract.

How To Start A WordPress Farm Blog

Just want to blog..? Using WordPress for your farm blog is pretty easy once you have your hosting. You can then download WordPress free to your hosting platform which will probably have c-panel.

Upload a theme you have purchased or you may choose to go with a free Theme. I recommend you purchase a ready-made Theme as this will make things easy for you and you get 6 months of support free.

There are plenty of videos showing you how to do this. The theme seller will probably have one. This is not a hard thing to do.

The support you get with a purchased theme will also help you if you ever get stuck. They will even go into your website and fix a problem if you have one.

C-panel is the backend of your website were WordPress lives. Once installed you will only see the WordPress panel as seen below when you log into your website.

WordPress DashBoard Above

This is where you will upload your Theme and make any changes to your website or post new articles to your blog. It is really that easy when you get to know your way around.

Now as I mentioned you can use one of the free themes that WordPress offers which are not that good but could be used. Or you can do what I did and purchase a Blogging Theme for a one-time payment of around £50 from a site that sells Themes like ThemeForest.

There are so many Themes to choose from and different types you will certainly find one you like. Always purchase a theme that has sold many times and has lots of good comments about it and you can’t go wrong.

Themes are basically ready-made websites that you can change to your own tastes. It sounds complicated but it takes around ten minutes to download the theme and install it into your WordPress hosting.

How To Always Recover Your Website

Now if you are new to WordPress Blogging. Then you are going to make mistakes. But this is not a problem when you are using WordPress.

As I mentioned if you have read the whole post that is..? WordPress has a plugin for everything. There is a Plugin called UpdraftPlus it is free to install.

Now as you learn to use WordPress and start making your website look cool. All you have to do is hit Backup in UpdraftPlus and it will backup your full website.

If you make a mistake after you have built a lovely website. As long as you have been making regular backups it’s not a problem. You just hit the Restore in Updraftplus and your website will be back to how it was. Before you made the mistake.

You can see I use it in the image of my blog dashboard above.

You can also back your website up to external storage like GoogleDrive who give you gigabytes of free storage space with any Gmail account.

Is It That Simple To Start A Farming Website

Yes, it is. The first step is to choose what you want from your website..? Do you want to blog or sell online or do you want both..?

Now you have made up your mind go with one of the links on this page and you cant go far wrong.

Once you have chosen your desired platform. Go over to YouTube and type in how to learn to Blog With WordPress or how to Build An Online Store With Shopify.

I promise you that you will find everything you need to know about either of the platforms. This is exactly what I did and I have never looked back. I even build Shopify stores for others and make a little extra on the side.

Learning How To Blog About Your Small Farm

If you are wanting to learn how to blog about your small farm then take a look at these guys. They have a channel on YouTube called Income School. You will learn everything you need to know about starting a blog from scratch even how to make money from your blog.

They explain lots of things around the art of blogging because it is an art. Like anything, you will become better at blogging the more you blog. It’s that simple. If you are not the best at spelling then you can download Grammarly the free version is all you need.

Once you are learning to blog you will want to learn about SEO. This will help you write great articles for your blog that will get ranked on page one of Google.

Neil Patel is the guy to watch he has his own Channel on YouTube called Neil Patel.

Watching these two YouTube channels alone will get you well on your way to blogging. Also earning from your blog, yes it will take a little time but so will building your farm.

If you are still not sure about using WordPress then check out channels on YouTube that teach you. But I will say this. The best way to learn is to follow along as you are watching.

If you don’t have WordPress or Shopify then you cannot follow along. Remmember you are in your farm for the long run and on those cold winter nights.

Well what better way to get through them than to write about your farming life..!

The post Why Small Farms Need A Website appeared first on The Small Farmer Life.

I created this page so that small farmers from around the world can get together in one place and share ideas, knowledge, join in the conversation and much more.

It does not matter how small your farm is or how much you know about farming. I’m sure you will find ideas and information from the Group.

I invite Small farmers from around the world to join the group and participate in sharing their knowledge, animal images, growing methods, start a conversation and share what it going on in your country.

Small local farms are better than large commercial intensive farms in every way. They feed local people, take better care of the land and are better for the world has a whole.

Why should just a few large companies control what we eat. So again I ask you to join “Living The Small Farmer Life” and share what you know and have learned while on your farming adventure.

The post Living The Small Farmer Life Facebook Group appeared first on The Small Farmer Life.

The reason I say this is because if you are looking to build a home on the land and farm it. If that piece of land has outlined planning or planning permission already passed on it.

Then it’s going to cost extremely more than a piece of farmland with the potential to start a farm and get planning permission in the future.

If you are like me and want to start a small farm, while also living off the land and building a business in the process. In the future, I may also want to live on my land. Then there are a few things you need to know about looking for land to purchase or lease and ways you can go about this.

First Of All, Do You Want To Rent Or Buy Farmland

If you are just wanting to farm the land and not eventually live on it. Then it maybe better to find a piece of land to rent and lease for your farming adventure. But if you are wanting to eventually live on the land it is going to be a little harder to find.

I say this because land that comes free from clawbacks and covenants will prevent this and it is hard to come by. So there are a couple of ways to find land to farm that fits your purposes.

Where to Find Land For Sale?

So let’s just say you are looking for a piece of land that you just want to start your dream of farming on a small scale. Remember this, that the good life comes at a cost, it’s not just to your wallet, it is going to be hard work. This type of farming is going to take time, lots of learning and a lot of ups and downs.

But let’s get back to finding the land you need. Now what I am going to say next might confuse you. The reason is simple, you might have been looking for land for a while now and you cannot seem to find any for sale?

The normal places to look would be the estate agents, land agents, and farmer’s magazines, etc. This is not the best way to find land for your smallholding.

This is were most people start to look for land

If you do manage to find land through any of these places. Then the land will be full of Covenants and Clawbacks and if you don’t know what these are. I will explain to you as simple as I can.

Checking Covenants & Clawbacks

What are Covenants and Clawbacks? Well, when you go through the normal channels of trying to find land, which in the places I’ve mentioned above. Then the people who are going to be selling the land for the private individuals the “Land Agents”.

Will be advising the sellers to put the Covenants and Clawbacks on the land. Covenants can restrict what you want to do with your farmland.

A Clawback is if you ever manage to build a business and profit from your farm. Then you may eventually want to apply for planning permission to live there. If you do manage to get planning permission for a new home. This will increase the value of your land massively.

Let’s say you pay £20,000 for the land and somehow you have managed to get planning permission for a house. Now your land is worth £200,000 you have to give the seller, who sold you the land 50 – 80%. That’s the increase in value from planning permission once granted on your land.

This is also in cash yes cash or bac’s whatever before you even build a home to live in “Ouch”.

This is why I advise you to go down the route I did and also my friends.

Some people say these Clawbacks are only applied to land which is in the development boundary of a town? I have seen Clawbacks on the land way outside the boundary of a town. So this is not true.

My advice, stay away from the normal way of doing things unless you are buying a home or looking for land with the planning permission, already in place.

The Best Way To Find Land To Farm

As I Said stay away from going down the traditional ways of purchasing land for this reason alone. I always do the leg work, which actually means “leg work” and that is getting out and start looking.

You say but I’ve been looking? But have you? When you purchase a new jumper, for some reason you look around and see lots of people wearing the same jumper? This is because you are really looking now that you have one. The same goes for cars you buy a new car and then you see hundreds of them, which you never noticed before.

Most of the time if you are looking for land you are looking for ” For Sale Signs”.

This is not how you need to be looking. Do you know we go through life taking in only around 10% of what we see around us. Yes, its true 10%, my advice is to open your eyes and look for fields, parcels of land that people may be willing to sell or lease.

Land thats looking untidy and full of dead trees, broken fences, etc.

Years ago houses were built on very large plots. Some houses belonged to farms and have large pieces of land attached.

Now that same house may no longer belong to the farm itself and they don’t want the land. Maybe they cannot manage it and some land is just sitting there, doing nothing.

Talk To Locals In Areas You Are Looking For land

You might be surprised and find it could be a local person who owns the land you may have seen. The owner may be willing to sell the land straight away, no agents just yours and their solicitors.

You don’t even have to use solicitors to purchase land, you can do this yourself through the land registry for a minimal fee. But my advice is to always use a solicitor. This makes sure all the proper checks are done and you have security in place if things go wrong.

Now when you see the land that you think is big enough for your needs. Approach the local houses in the area and make sure to be polite and nice and don’t be shy. Ask who owns that land and if they know how you can contact them.

Start a conversation and you will be surprised how open some people are. If the land is unkept it could be an eye saw to them. They would love to see a new owner for it as it will make the area a better place to live.

They will be able to tell you if the owner ever visits the land. Locals can give you lots of information, about the land in question. They live in the area so there is know better resource.

This is how I found my land, right on my doorstep by knocking on doors and asking local people. Yes, I was looking further afield, but it just so happened it was right in front of me, all the time I was looking. I literally walked into a horse tack shop and asked the shop owner, who pointed me in the right direction.

Land Registry Search

If you cannot find the owner by asking around then there are other ways and means of doing this. You can go on the Land Registry website. If the land has changed hands since 1990 it will have been registered with them.

If the land was sold before 1990 then someone will just have the Title Deeds unless they registered it, without selling it.

Once you are on the “Land Registry Website“. If you look at the Google maps, which is available on the Land Registry Site. Find the land you have found and put the cursor over the land in question. This will tell you if they have the land registered in their system.

This is of course if you manage to find it, sometimes it takes a little time, but you will find it. It just takes a little time to get your bearings on the map.

Quick Tip: I would always look for the closest home to the land I have seen and think it would make a good purchase. Make a note of where it is, this gives you the general idea of the area on Google Maps. Then it is much easier to find the land and where it is situated on the Land Registry Maps page.

Once on the land registry site, you can purchase a copy of the title deeds. These will have the owner’s name, address and everything else you need to know about the land for a small fee of £3.

Time To Contact The Owners

Now you have the information at hand contact the owners by letter or if you can find their email or any other contact information. You can ask if they are willing to sell the land? If they say yes you are in luck and now you just have to negotiate the price.

If they say no which is probably going to happen unless you are really in luck. It would be really good luck if you found someone willing to sell on your first shot. But what has it cost you £3? This is nothing to your ultimate goal, move onto the next piece.

If its farmland you are not going to pay over the max price per acre, which is at this time of writing around £12,000 – £15,000 per acre. This can be lower £6000 or even less or higher and change depending on where the land is. If the land is close to your town or the land is hilly, etc. Lots of factors come into play when it comes to the selling price.

You can check out my post on How Much Does One Acre Of Farmland Cost

The smaller the pieces seem to cost more as they tend to come up less frequently. The reason being more people can afford let’s say £20,000 – £30,000 for a couple of acres. Than £600,000 for a 100 acre at the price of £6000 per acre.

How I Got My Land For Free

The land I ended up purchasing, turned out great for me. I had to use all my savings and I also sold everything I could to purchase the land. I managed to purchase 6 acres of land which was great but it was too much and double what I needed.

It was not the best land with direct road access. I have to access my land through the same access as several other homes and small landowners around me, but I do not mind this.

Now I was only looking for around 2 – 3 acres of land. Which I could not find local anywhere and I looked for some time. The man selling the land would not split it up and would only sell in one piece. I was in a little pickle, but I found a way to pay for the whole plot.

In the end, I managed to purchase the land in question and had a plan for how to get my money back and have the size of the plot I wanted. Knowing lots of people looking to purchase smaller pieces of land and there are lots of people out there. I waited for 4 years to get the right person to purchase half of my land.

Meaning the right person who would care for their land as I did mine. Then I sold them half of the land for the price I paid for the full piece of land, which left me with my piece of land for free.

While I was holding out for the right person to come along to sell half my land. I carried on with the infrastructure of my farm.

The piece of land I kept, had the planning permission and electricity connected. The planning permission was for 6 horse stables.

I also put a few other details into the sale of the Land and that was –

The buyer had to install the road for access to his plot, also pay and install my water connection, in turn. I let him have access to my electricity connection through my land for free.

Having paid £6000 for the electrical connection to the national grid. I could have charged him to access that electricity and to cross my land. This could have been several thousand pounds.

The buyer also paid for the fencing to split the land into two parcels of 3 acres each. He now also has planning permission for stables also.

After the sale, I then turned my land back to agriculture and the stables have now been turned into animal housing.

If You Do Manage To Find Land To Farm

If you’ve found a piece of land that you think looks great for your farming needs but looks a bit of a mess now. You might need to look further down the line and use your imagination.

Check Out My Post On Planning Your SmallHolding you can see how I planned my small farm out. This is the best way to start and that is with a plan to follow.

A plan also helps to show people or the council planning department what you are going to be doing with the land. It also gives you an idea of what your farm will look like after you have finished.

It could be a look a mess now, but you can soon sort that out. Just like I did it will take a little hard work. You can soon hire machines to clear the land. This will cost a lot less money and take a lot less time than by hand.

This is where a plan of what you want to put where and how is great. You can make good time savings with the use of the machine following your plan. Instead of stood there scratching your head thinking what to do next?

If you choose to do it by hand it will take a lot longer and cost you more in the long run. I only purchased a long hayfield, it also had an area of boggy ground.

It also had broken fencing and other minor issues. Things like building the access track that I needed to get to the land. This was all done in a couple of weeks or so after purchase.

I also turned that boggy ground into a pond by digging it all out with a borrowed 360 Mini Digger. Placed a few land drains in and let the pond fill up naturally and now it is a haven for wildlife.

Do Your Checks

By checks, I mean you want to make sure there are no restrictive Covenants on the land already? Some covenants like mineral rights etc are on most deeds for some reason. Most of the time it means nothing that will affect you, they will have been on there for many years.

Some other things you will see might be wayleaves and easements for water and electric companies, which can be good for you as you know the utilities are nearby.

But you could also find not so nice Covenants that say the land should not be used for what you want it for. You can see this information on the deeds you paid for from the land registry. Things to look out for are things like, do you have the right to access the land by vehicle or is it just foot access?

You want vehicle access for sure if you will be using it for farming. Others could be things like you cannot build a large slaughterhouse or smelly pig sheds etc. Some others could be you cannot start a business on the land that affects the neighbors.

This will all come down to what you want the land for and what you are planning to do with it. Most land can be used for farming and it is very rare that you could not start a farm on the land.

If you are just looking for a smallholding you should have no problem. Local councils are mostly supportive of farming, but this does not mean you can just move on in and live on it.

If you wanted to do that, that is a whole different ball game and takes time, business plans and a lot more. So farming is easy planning to live there is not, take it from me.

Double Check The Land Itself

The other checks you may want to do is go to the land after heavy rain. This is to make sure that the fields or land do not turn into boggy fields after a little rain.

The land will always get wet and soggy after a rainy day or night like any land. What you do not want to see is massive pools of surface water.

I have seen what looks like flat land end up with large ponds in the middle after a couple of days of rain. Try to visit the land in all weather types and make sure it has no problems.

Sometimes you may be able to sort some problems out if you have the skills or money to put it right. If it does have problems and you can put it right, or don’t mind a big pond. It could also help you get the land cheaper.

Ask Your Solicitor To Double-Check

So if you have gotten this far and you are in the motions of purchasing the land. You will be talking to your overpriced Land Conveyancing Solicitors who will charge you a pretty penny. You may also have to pay your sellers fees also.

This could help you in purchasing your land in the first place. If you offer to pay their “Legal Fees” to get them to sell you the land, that could seal the deal.

Make sure they do all the checks, write a list of questions down that you want to ask your solicitor. Tell them to check the access rights and all the covenants and wayleaves associated with the land, if any.

Once all the checks have been done, then it’s just a matter of signing the contract and you will be the proud owners of your very own plot of land.

Now you have that out the way, you can get on with living your dream and yes you are going to have ups and downs, but it will be an adventure for sure.

If you don’t have money to purchase farmland then you can claim land free. Check out my Claim-Land-For-Free-Uk

The post How To Find Land To Farm appeared first on The Small Farmer Life.