13 replies to this topic

[Darkstar]

Hi Everyone,
I need as many good luck wishes as I can get tonight at 7pm. I am going to be bidding for 16.5 acres of grazing land.

[barrymoore]

goog luck

[surreydodger]

doog luck

[Darkstar]

Oh well. We didn't get it, didn't even get to bid before it went above our limit. The land was 16.44 acres next to the river Sheppey in Somerset. Guide was 65-85k, we had 91k, but it went for 109k. Just goes to show how far out the agricultural land index price is around here.

The search continues......

[shepie]

Hi Darkstar

Sorry to hear you were not sucessful this time but i think the average price is now about £6-7,000 / acre for good clean land and £10 - 12 ,000 with a building on it .
They underprice land at auction to get the weak minded to lose control of their mind and wallet , well done for sticking to your limit .
Shepie

[che]

Hi Darkstar,
Sorry to hear the news but at around £6600 per acre it does not sound too dear to me. At £85000 it would have been around £5200 per acre and a bargain. The price would have been set to entice bidders to the auction. In shropshire small plots often achieve £8000 per acre.
Dave C

[Darkstar]

around £6600 per acre it does not sound too dear to me.

I agree. At least now I know what sort of budget I need realistically to get the land I want. If I had 109k to spend I would have bought it, but I had my budget and stuck to it. I need to really look at a smaller plot and then potentially rent land to make up the 5 hectares or buy some cheaper land on the levels. It would have been great, but the land was by no means perfect and there were quite a few negetive features from my point of view. I would have made it work, but £5700 per acre was all I felt it was worth as both fields were long quite thin river frontage with some obvious boggy areas. Winter grazing would probably have been limited to 2/3 the area due to soft ground. Also the access track was quite narrow and about 250m long and no passing places so customers may have been put off and it would have been quite daunting with a caravan.

I am looking at it as a useful lesson.

[Cornish Gems]

Darkstar,

Be careful when buying land with river frontage as most land is deemed floodplain and you will not be able to do anything on a floodplain. We recently looked at some land it seemed ideal fishing rights lovely river a house already build next to the river a little way up from the land, no probs we thought until we spoke to the Environment Agency the land was mostly Flood Risk 3 ie a 1:75 chance of flooding, they would object to any building of any description including temporary stock shelters. Found out also we could not plant within 7 metres of the bank. Also the onus is on the land owner to keep the river clear and running so we would have to remove debris etc.

Should anyone wish to check on potential flood risk here is the link to the flood risk maps http://www.environme...ds/default.aspx once here follow the link to flood maps and enter the post code.

And it was a dream 14.35 acres for only 90K. Now we know why.

[barrymoore]

You guys are lucky here in Hampshire the land with a road frontige is £28 - £30,000 per acer and then just back from the road say 100 meters or so I have just paid £13,666 per acer!!
food for thought
regards Derek

[monty don]

The auction price guide is around 30 percent less than achieved auction price and land in somerset is very hard to locate without restrictions or uplift clauses,greedy greedy greedy!and planners in the area are some of the worst jobsworths in the country
unless you can budget around 30 percent above your wasting your time even going!

[happymanoftheworld]

SEPA (Scottish Env Prot Agency) objected to my plan for building because I am on a flood plain, and I am at about zero feet high - 300 yards from river. I asked them if they had been to the site or just looked on map. They said looked on map. I asked them to look at map whilst I was on the phone which they did........ and we all agreed that perhaps the 12 foot high abandoned railway embankment between me and the river would be a good barrier - objection dropped!!!

[greenmeadow]

Hi,

With regard to land prices - we're in Worcestershire and just made an losing offer of £10k an acre. The price of land seems to be shooting up.

Green Meadow

[che]

Green Meadow


Sorry to hear about that we too had a few dissapointments before securing our patch. Keep looking something will turn up our venture is still going strong.

Dave C

[Suffolk_Boy]

It's worth noting that at land auctions, the vendor will often accept what he deems to be a reasonable offer for the the land without it even having to go to auction.

Even if it doesn't say so, always phone the agents and enquire. They seem to work on the £6-6.5k an acre rule so its worth a shot.

Jay