What to do with 12 acres of land??
Discussion
Morning all! I spend my time split between the family house (which is lived in by my elderly father) and my fiancée's house. The family house is a former farm with 12 acres of land split into 3 fields. I run my own tree surgery business from there but feel that the land has never been used properly to generate an income. This is something I am keen to do, hence my post. The one stumbling block is that to access the property, you have to go over a manually operated railway level crossing, so high volumes of traffic are out and things such a 40ft storage containers are physically impossible to get up the lane. Glamping is one option but the railway crossing may be an issue. I had also considered growing Christmas trees, a longer term project but nice earner. Any other thoughts?
Thinking a little laterally and selfishly but... If the access to the land starts to become much more frequent, then doesnt the fact its a manually operated level crossing become the problem of the Railway Network, not yours?
We have had some rather big infrastructure projects put in near me recently where these manual level crossings have been replaced by other options by the railway lot, to access fields/cottages etc.
I'm sure that in their eyes, the only reason they are leaving it alone is because you rarely use it...
We have had some rather big infrastructure projects put in near me recently where these manual level crossings have been replaced by other options by the railway lot, to access fields/cottages etc.
I'm sure that in their eyes, the only reason they are leaving it alone is because you rarely use it...
Edited by snotrag on Tuesday 30th December 10:05
Interesting suggestions there. Whilst the petrol head in me would love to have cars/bikes hooning about, the noise would end up annoying people I fear. I did it myself for many years when young and even then someone complained. Ducks and chickens would be good, sell the eggs on. Solar, interesting idea. The nearest power line that would take a decent infeed is too far away to be viable I suspect, but worth looking at.
Or llamas, alpacas, wallabies and ostriches (even bigger eggs!).
I delivered groceries to a small farm once that had wallabies in their field, couldn't believe what I was seeing at first. The lady said they were fun until one escaped and they had multiple reports from confused motorists
I delivered groceries to a small farm once that had wallabies in their field, couldn't believe what I was seeing at first. The lady said they were fun until one escaped and they had multiple reports from confused motorists
Have a look at what criteria you need to fulfill to qualify for a countryside stewardship scheme. The government is paying farmers a not unreasonable amount to have meadowland and wild flower fields to help ecosystem regeneration. You could simply add wild flower mix to your existing grassland. Alternatively see if there are any dairy farms near you needing to rent extra pasture land access, grass fed cows are a part of milk attaining Red Tractor standards.
Farmland is often best suited to farm solutions, seems like the obvious direction to go in.
Farmland is often best suited to farm solutions, seems like the obvious direction to go in.
It's not going to make you rich I'm sure, but is there a government scheme(s) to fund planting and maintaining a wood or forest. I'm sure Harry Metcalfe has done something like this. You could plant a load of oak, name it after your family or kids or something and leave a legacy for generations to come?
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tree-pla...
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tree-pla...
You need to be careful because of the tax implications.
A CGT exempt main residence is only a main residence if it's a main residence, and that includes land around it. If you start doing commercial activities those areas will become commercial and subject to Capital Gains Tax.
An IHT exempt farm is only a farm if it's a farm. If you start doing commercial activities those areas will change from agricultural to business. Depending how it's done there may or may not be a business exemption from Inheritance Tax.
If you want to continue to have the IHT exemption while not farming yourselves the best way forward is to rent the fields to someone else for genuine farming purposes under what's called a Farm Business Tenancy. This is a specific type of tenancy which enables IHT relief to continue.
A CGT exempt main residence is only a main residence if it's a main residence, and that includes land around it. If you start doing commercial activities those areas will become commercial and subject to Capital Gains Tax.
An IHT exempt farm is only a farm if it's a farm. If you start doing commercial activities those areas will change from agricultural to business. Depending how it's done there may or may not be a business exemption from Inheritance Tax.
If you want to continue to have the IHT exemption while not farming yourselves the best way forward is to rent the fields to someone else for genuine farming purposes under what's called a Farm Business Tenancy. This is a specific type of tenancy which enables IHT relief to continue.
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