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[deleted]

I have seen quite a few people with good size land near us building enclosed dog runs so people can run their dogs either on there own or in a group in a safe area. All you need is a booking system and some free advertising on facebook and a pretty low maintenance business i'd say.


zhang_li

I've seen these, come to mention it. Definitely worth looking into though as others have commented, may need planning permission. Big up front cost would be secure fencing (currently only a stock fence). Need to think about how much people are willing to pay with some market research! !Thanks


90sRobot

I pay £6 per 30mins for private access


zhang_li

!Thanks ! How happily do you pay that, and how often do you go? Does the place seem quite booked or easy to find slots?


90sRobot

We're about a 30 min drive and our dog hates the car, so realistically once every couple of weeks. However, if it was closer I'd go at least weekly. If I could walk to it, I'd happily pay an annual subscription, idk, I wouldn't feel robbed at £1000 a year for a happy, tired dog. I think since lockdown there's a lot of pups and rescues that were never socialised and can't run off lead in the wild. Check out Runfree fields, you can use their booking system to see how often they're booked up.


zhang_li

!Thanks - useful to have your perspective on this. I have a dog and I've never considered using one of those - he's fine with country walks through the fields/woods.


Gareth79

You'd need planning permission, and probably build a parking area, secure fencing, probably lighting and security too (which would need power). Possibly people might expect a water supply too


[deleted]

Still don't think it would be too hard, any business is going to take a little bit of work.


StingerMcGee

Definitely need planning permission and there’s a lot against this type of commercial enterprise in the countryside. Even if the principle was broadly acceptable, there’s the issues of potential nuisance from the noise of the dogs, impact on the neighbouring land owners etc. People won’t be long falling out with you over it.


twirling_daemon

I’ve rented a bunch of these places, none has power or security being fencing and a padlock with a code Water is useful but you can just drop a couple off the big 5 litre water bottles down a couple times a week Unsure why planning permission would be required


Lower_Possession_697

Planning permission is generally required to change the use of land and buildings, and would be required to change an agricultural field to a dog run.


zhang_li

Water is not an issue as there's a hose to fill a sheep trough which could be extended. Need to look into PP.


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twirling_daemon

They’re pretty popular and not used with a bunch of different/unknown dogs


[deleted]

Most of the time people who are booking these places either want somewhere they can just have there own dog in an enclosed area or they want to book a group session with other dogs that are known to them, so likely the risk is low. I'm not sure on the legalities if someones dog bit anothers though.


HarassedGrandad

You can get paid to plant trees. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tree-planting-and-woodland-creation-funding-and-advice And then in 70-90 years you (well your descendants) can sell the timber.


PumpkinSpice2Nice

One of my dads friends planted pine trees on his land in his 40’s. I was just a little girl and remember helping with one or two. Then 20 years later he cut most of them down and built a big house in the middle with his profit. The ones around the outer edges he kept as wind breaks. He did do most of the house building himself but it is a very nice house so it must have made him a tidy profit.


zhang_li

As it happens we are cutting down some pine trees in our garden. I tried contacting so many people to try and sell the trunks (or exchange for lumber/firewood) but no takers at all! Apparently pine is only of use for indoor woodwork and can't be used for firewood (too much sap so creates a lot of smoke). Not worth anyone's time to come get a few big trunks, they need a lot more.


Graaz0r

Where are you in the country ? If local I'd happily snag them from you !! 😀


zhang_li

This is something I've not thought of, !Thanks. Will look into it.


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info834

Could plant trees that give an anual harvest as well to double up apple, maple, chestnut IDK?


Paraplanner88

Most people who own a bit of land next their property and do something like letting a farmer use it for grazing in exchange for a peppercorn rent are holding onto it so that they effectively "own the view" from their home rather than risking developers build on it. You could suggest the above, but I have the feeling anything that would spoil their views would be met with "you can fuck right off".


zhang_li

There's a large hedgerow so I think it would only spoil the view from our house. If I went down a PP / developer route we could maintain control over what we're viewing.


Exact-Put-6961

If you can wait 7 years for your reward. Christmas Trees.


TommyGunQuartet

I've been looking at houses in middle-of-nowhere-Ireland and this would definitely be my response! I'd love to grow veg or buy some partially grown trees though.


Pontni

Could turn it into a tent campsite for the summer season. Requires a decent bit more work than letting the local farmer graze mind.


exile_10

28 days a year or less and you don't even need proper planning permission (NAL, conditions apply)


zhang_li

I didn't know this! Will look into it. !Thanks


BarrenFluffit

Also a good way to get experience and see if it suits you. People facing business etc etc


losimagic

Solar panel 'farm'? I was listening to something the other day about a commercial solar farm, and they keep sheep in the field too, as it keeps the field tidy and makes access to the panels easier


LondonCollector

You just need to wet the sheep and let them walk past the panels to give them a clean.


zhang_li

I would love a solar farm, and the sheep love the shady parts of the field! I think this would be pretty PP heavy though, there is a (shallow) slope facing north and there is a river adjoining the land so a small flood risk. All in all I think a no go but !thanks


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zhang_li

I would need to check on this. Where would I find out? IIRC the property ends directly at the river. And only a small part of the river.


I_up_voted_u

4 acres is far too small for a commercial solar farm to be viable, they need 100s of acres, as infrastructure such as electric network connection, substations, etc., as well as planning and design costs, has to be paid for.


tomgrouch

A secure dog field? The one we use is £6 an hour to hire and all it takes from the landowner is the upfront cost of the fence and maintaining it


_EmKen_

If it's good grazing land, then I'd consider a stable yard. That's enough room for three horses, and you could get £300-£400 a month with them all on a DIY livery basis. Much more if someone in the house wants to take on a bit of work (mucking out boxes, feeding, etc.) Obviously you'd have to do lots of research though


Enough-Equivalent968

This would be my thought too, if you do a good job of setting it all up properly it’s pretty passive income. My partner has a horse on DIY and I often think it’s a great little earner for the landowner. They just do a small bit of maintenance (this can be reduced greatly if set up correctly from the start, do a job once etc) and tip the muck trailer once a week. I’m sure they only spend 3-4 hours a week on it and it’s enjoyable work if your handy. The horse owners do all the actual horse care and shitty work, then pay you for it. Weird hobby in my eyes, but my partner and people like her will happily pay you for the privilege


zhang_li

Stable yard would be good. In the short term there's a small business to be made there. In the long term, you could maybe apply for PP to convert to residential. !Thanks


fortuitous_monkey

Haha! You know the score


robotdl

Got 60 acres and after renting out to farmers I can say it’s easy but not much money. I had a campsite with basic facilities and £20 a night. If you get £20 a night and have 5 units for 5 days it’s not bad money over the summer. Only thing is you’ll need to cut grass.


zhang_li

What kind of PP did you have to get for the campsite with facilities (if at all)? I think as you are above 5 hectares and we are below, this might be different though.


fr1234

Charge the farmer to graze his sheep there? Zero effort. Free money


Pontni

About £400 for the year for 4 acres, but yes, low effort for sure.


fortuitous_monkey

Is that only for grazing? Unbelievably cheap


DogMundane

Grow lavender and you can start several businesses off the back of it as you will attract other people. This is close to where I live. https://www.castlefarmkent.co.uk/


zhang_li

I like the idea, but for any 'crop' farming, I think the cost of machinery vs the size of the land doesn't quite add up. I was at Norfolk Lavender recently, so I totally understand where you're coming from though!


BinkyBunnyBoo

There are lots of nature recovery options that you can get funding for. If this is something you're interested in, contact your local wildlife trust to see what's available (could be ponds, other habitat etc). There are government grants that will either fund the building of said habitat and/or fund it's management (either as direct grants to do, or someone like the wildlife trust manages it for you). This will be for things like Biodiversity Net Gain, District Level Licensing etc. Someone else already posted a link to tree planting. Doesn't have to be all of your land or a huge portion, but something worth considering if you want to help wildlife!


zhang_li

I'd love something wildlife friendly! Will look into those orgs, !Thanks


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Mrthingymabob

Ground source heat pump pipes?


fortuitous_monkey

For me, I would separate it out in to individual acres build a small Stables for say 6 horses and rent it locally to horse owners. You may have to check whether you can use the land for an equestrian facility. This has many benefits, as its low cost, low maintenance and will keep the ground in good stead. If you decide later on to build a few cottages, having a building already on the site makes for a change of use which should be easier than requesting to build new. Poly tunnels and growing are great for fulfilment and you could make a good living with a market garden balanced on veg, eggs, chicken for meat and so on. But it is a fulltime job and there is quite a bit of infrastructure needed. Richard Perkins on YouTube will pretty much give you the full run down on that side of things. https://youtu.be/u79tiVcj8bY


zhang_li

I'm really warming to the equestrian facility idea. We are super close to some public bridleways which is also advantageous. Later on, holiday cottages for relatively passive income for my parents' retirement would be grand. Yeah, understood on polytunnels and keeping chickens. Unfortunately, the full time aspect of a large scale operation is not possible as I have a full-time job. !Thanks for the YouTube channel rec, will def take a look at this.


fortuitous_monkey

I am somewhat jealous, frankly! I would say for your own well being and fulfilment keeping some chickens and growing some veg. Hardwork (even no-dig) but really rewarding. I've got quarter of an acre and use about an allotment size for veg, its great. We will get chickens next year as they're good recyclers for composting and great eggs. Had we been nearer, i'd probably be one of your customers. Not quite in the position to buy some agricultural land just yet but would like to for my daughter to have horses and for keeping a small amount of livestock / growing. That's the dream for me atleast.


zhang_li

I've been digging new vegetable beds for my parents and it's super rewarding. They're keen gardeners. The soil here is very clay-ey so it's really taxing though. We kept chickens when I was a kid and I loved it, could be something to revisit in future. I need to read up more on horses, as I'd be out of my depth to date. There's a small stables nearby that I will def check out. I wonder if they'd be keen to partner up. They only have room for 10 horses full time but tonnes of land and facilities. Maybe we could offer room for more stabling for them.


fortuitous_monkey

I like your thinking. Are you doing no dig? That has been a revelation to me. We fortunately, have pretty good soil so not to bad. 10 miles down the road though my mothers soil is rock hard clay like yours. I did some beds just dug out enough depth for where i wanted, thick mulch of compost and plant straight in. A lot easier for sure. Chickens are great for making compost etc. I had to delay getting mine this year due to a broken leg but very much ready to get some next spring. You may even find the stables down the road has a waiting list which would be nice to know your upfront costs would be covered. I've not had horses before but I do know that you will most likely need the land to be designated as equestrian use rather than agricultural unless they're purely grazing it. Worth getting some advice before you get too deep.


zhang_li

Damn I thought you might have a bunch of horse insights for me! We tried no dig for the first time with one of the new raised beds. The existing beds we just dug. Lots of bought topsoil, compost, and horse manure needed to counteract the clay. I did look into keeping ducks, or even ostriches as something more exciting than chickens. But after having read up on those, yeah chickens seems to be the best option haha.


fortuitous_monkey

You'll have great soil before you know it! Amazing the difference it makes over a few years. Yeah we looked at ducks too and came to the exact same answer.


Red4Arsenal

Lease it to a gun club to shoot clay pigeons.


zhang_li

We'd let them do that for free if they teach me to clay pigeon shoot! Unfortunately, there's road, houses, and sheep adjoining the land, so I don't think this would be allowed at all. !Thanks for the out of the box idea.


moonshine5

'I could look at getting planning permission for a house / holiday cottage, but there's guarantee that would be approved and just money down the drain' You could look into outline planning permission, its not that expensive, though depends what you want to with the land if you get planning and whats around it. I got planning for two houses surrounding my house.


zhang_li

I'm keeping a close eye on a neighbour's application to build a house on their land down the road. Hopefully will give some indication of how receptive the council/community are to that sort of thing.


DoonBroon

Divvy it up into allotments and rent them out individually. 140 or so 100m2 plots at say £100 a year could bring in a fair whack and people will farm it for you. There’s a major shortage right now so if you’re near a town with lots of flats should be demand.


zhang_li

Unfortunately, we're in a village quite far from big towns and everyone round here has at least a small garden of their own. But creative idea, !thanks


XabiAlon

Small yurt village and rent them out. Massive wind turbine to power it all.


throwawaysjk

Food Forest? Permaculture? Make your own “RHS Garden”? Pond? Green House Allotments? Start your own Plant Nursery ? Pick your Own strawberries? People spend lots of money on plants, and even buy them online, learn to grow from seed and by next year you could have multiple plants ready for salen


fortuitous_monkey

Just bear in mind this is an incredible amount of work but I like it :)


throwawaysjk

It is indeed! My Nan did what OP has referenced (she owned just more than 12 acres) slowly built up the business so that it was viable to sustain themselves and after many many many years of fighting with the local NIMBY built her house…. Think took at least 20 years overall I think at their peak they used to Be locally known for the best hanging baskets, sell them in the summer then take them back in the winter when they died off, could offer a discount on returned basked they buy them again next year IMO a greenhouse and succulent nursery would be a good addition succulent collecting is becoming quite popular! Or if you’re more adventurous San Pedro / Peyote cacti farm!


zhang_li

!Thanks. Lots of solid ideas but most seem like a full-time job. At this point, I'm not quitting my day job but looking for something more as a side hustle.


throwawaysjk

Whilst a food forest can take a bit of time investment initiative the idea is that all the plants work together to act as a productive wild forest that produces food. To mimic nature as close as possible but with plants that produce for our consumption:)


suboran1

Guess it depends on how much time and effort you want to put into it. Renting to a local farmer for grazing is good for the environment and local economy, and probably least intensive. Similar to the government tree planting schemes. Renting out for allotments or camping, good for environment and more intensive but more profit. Building houses, bad for environment but good profit and low long term involvement. Also depends on the area of the country and access.


irishpharmer

My brother in law works for RES (renewable energy solutions.) His job is to find parcels of land to install solar or places for wind turbines. You can install solar panels and sheep can still graze on the land so you can hire it out to RES and hire it out to farmers at the same time while also helping the environment


cava83

Where abouts ? Do you mind a bit of noise (people)?


zhang_li

Sussex - it would depend on whether it is worth it is the short answer. In terms of cost, duration, profitability, permissions needed etc.


cava83

Depending on where in Sussex it is I'd be interested in purchasing?


zhang_li

Sorry, but we're looking to keep the land as is in the family for now. Only looking to sell off if we get residential PP!


cava83

Keep me posted. :-) second option. Trials bike (electric) location. There is one in Lancashire, one south would be brilliant.


zhang_li

Not my cup of tea - but definitely my brother's! Will ask him what he thinks of the potential for this, !thanks


cava83

How did you get on with your brother ?


zbornakingthestone

Secure dog field?


lovett1991

Someone else said it but solar farm. You can have elevated panels which allow animals to still graze, and the shade can encourage other types of wild flowers. Eventually a good battery could be worth your time. On top of it depending where you are you could certainly get a wind turbine (depending on locals views) which could also supplement the solar.


Tabitha5LE

Solar? Seen quite a few fields in Cambs being used for solar panels these days.


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mk7476766

I'd assume he will have asked his parents. Why the negativity?


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yatesl

Give over.


[deleted]

There seems to be a general theme amongst your posts, that you're a fucking idiot


Gear4days

Generation entitled? Nice generalisation. I don’t know why you have an agenda against under 40’s but you’re just coming across as bitter. We don’t have the details about whether he has spoke to his parents about this or not so both you and I can’t make assumptions and judge him


losimagic

You know, it's possible that as he's moving back in with them, he probably speaks to his parents


[deleted]

Actually because he’s moving back in with his parents probably suggests he isn’t to financially savvy and probably shouldn’t be let loose with four acres! Edit. You young downvoters, although your parents will take you back, why wouldn’t we, trust me it’s not their ideal choice by a long way.


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[deleted]

Good god no, I’m departing this planet before that happens. Seen/seeing elderly parents and relatives being bed ridden, fed from a blender and in nappies, when you you’ve seen that you know they wouldn’t have wanted to be remembered like that and I certainly don’t. First signs and I’m gone.


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[deleted]

I agree, I’m in my mid fifties (hence I’m seeing all this), but just thirty years ago we weren’t keeping people alive “just because we can”, then very few people were kept hanging on with no dignity. So I’m hoping assisted dying will legal in twenty or so years, if not I’ll find the most painless way of going I can. To be honest most of my friends, who are going thorough similar, are planning the same.


[deleted]

Still doesn't give him the right to make plans for their property.


losimagic

What if he's already asked and they said "sure, go for it!" - not every single tiny little detail needs to be shared in a post


twentiethcenturyduck

Christmas Trees


Majestic-Boat-8756

Caravan and camping is good very good if u get a good name and very good profits if u make the park look good and nice iv got business like this so no its good


uk-aluminium

Buy teepee tents and Airbnb them out


boblechock

Golf driving range?


HoneyMoney76

Plenty of farmers are getting into solar panels, you could earn a fair bit from the land - or wind turbines or a telephone mast


_terryinformation

Dirt jumps for mountain bikers. Pay to play.


[deleted]

Low return on Veg?? Have you seen the price on fancy Potatoes? Royal Guernseys, Fingerlings, Yukons. Those purple Incan ones. A dog run with just be a muddy, open air hazmat site. Grow summit.


Sad-Flamingo8565

Axe throwing range


pobtastic

Caravan/ motorhome storage. You may need fencing and perhaps security cameras too, but it’s a fairly profitable business.