It looks a quite tempting option to buy a few 10s of acres of wood for summer camping / BBQ etc. I gather there is money to be made from timber and there are some tax breaks too. Maintenance could be a bit onerous but I suppose you do as much or little as you choose. Anyone tried?
Yes, I bought five acres of ancient woodland in Kent a couple of years ago. It’s not something you can really make money out of but it’s a great place to chill out, camp etc.Originally Posted by DavidL
Happy to answer any queries although I wouldn’t say I’m an expert.
I've seen it advertised and always wondered if it was worth it. Must be limitations about staying there etc. Be nice to know.
There's one or two on eBay of all places. Prices vary somewhat. I don't think you're allowed to build anything but I imagine you could camp as much as you wish. I recall Kevin McLeod built a camping pod in a field and it was fine as it had wheels. A shepherds hut with a wood burner would be lovely.
Basically it's a tax dodge. You buy the land and the trees are just left to grow, that way it becomes more valuable. Trees are cut just to pay for the necessary maintenance and admin cost.
The investment is free from CGT and, I think, any profits made on the wood. But the income is effectively reinvested back into maintenance anyway.
The main buyers are those with at least a £1million and in the main they just use it as a tax free method of passing money to the kids after they are up in the big forest in the sky.
So they spend £1 million today, forget about it, die and let the kids sell it totally tax free.
If you are thinking of investing say £10k and selling it a few years later, you will be discouraged from doing so.
My friend purchased some woodland a few years back and he’s build some sizeable stuff on his, all under Permitted Development rights. He started off with a 9x18m wood shed (wood burner, mostly enclosed but some open bays for drying felled timber) and followed that up with another similar sized store for more timber and his tractor/equipment.
If I remember correctly he wasn’t allowed to sleep in the shed or have any form of toilet facility.
Last edited by benny.c; 10th December 2018 at 01:10.
A friend of mine is on his third one of these (link for illustration, it's not his!):
https://overlandcampers.co.uk/lance/
Each cost less than £10k to buy and have fitted out with decent suspension, brakes, wheels and tyres. You can get LPG conversions for your V8, if you choose to take that engine route, and they go anywhere. You can fit out the back or leave it relatively empty and able to transport lots of camping, fishing etc gear.
He keeps threatening to buy some woodland somewhere, perhaps it's time I started encouraging him to do so again.
"A man of little significance"
Not cheap looking at those eBay prices.
How about looking at a woodland cemetery? seriously when i retired in 2013 my company were using one for instance near Epping in Essex and they were getting up to 7K a grave back then which was just literally a hole in the ground no headstones just a record kept in the register and marked by GPS, minimal maintenance as mother nature does that for you and a simple “ meeting house” for the service.
folk'll be dying to get in.
I have about 7 acres of varied woodland. It is where I keep my pigs. They love it.
https://www.woodlands.co.uk/owning-a...-legislation/#
what you can and can't do, assuming its up to date. How much would be checked is another mater I suppose...
Any landowners here - not necessarily woodland but `pasture/paddock/grazing/amenity`land?
I`ve often thought of buying an acre or two for private `recreational use` - it`s difficult finding the right plot for a reasonable price, though.
Anything around here gets snapped up by the horsey types for upwards of 50 - 60k/acre +.
How easy is it to sell land when you`re finished with it and is there much of a return - would you at least get your money back plus some interest after 10 - 15 years?
There was 50 acres on leasehold for sale around here recently (remainder of a 999-year lease, peppercorn) for the price of just one acre freehold - why so cheap?
Isn`t being a leaseholder with 975 years left basically the same as owning it?
Friend of mine bought a little plot from a farmer right behind his house, 1.5 acres of woodland. Dug his own lake in it, just enjoys chilling there and looking after it.
My father in law has done the same, without the lake, he’s planted some trees and mows it with his vintage tractor, happy as Larry.
Cheers..
Jase
I've thought about buying a few acres of woodland in the past and I always end up wondering what the situation is regarding third party damage or injury? Would you have to "prove" to your insurer that you've taken all reasonable steps to mitigate any accidents if say a tree limb falls off and clobbers someone or would it be classed as an unforeseeable accident? And how would you prove you've managed your woodland responsibly in the event of such an occurrence? I think it would get very expensive very quickly having to get reports drawn up on all your trees by an arboriculturalist!
^^^^^What would they be doing on your property?
An ideal opportunity to shout at any trespassers `Ooi, get oorff moi laaaaaand`..
^^^^ As I understand it it's irrelevant whether anyone is trespassing or not, the land owner could still be held responsible for any injuries or damage sustained. The two parcels of woodland I've seen for sale are both bordered by a public highway on one boundary and both have lots of tree limbs overhanging their respective highways. One also has a public footpath running across it.
Always wanted to, and could, but the tax benefits are meaningless to me, and I just cannot get over the price given I can't even live there! 10k an acre is just nuts.
Got a few friends who have a little bit of land. They all love it. Only thing I would say is don't underestimate the work involved and for that reason try and get something as close to you as possible.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
I can see fly tipping being a pain .Some arse hat turns up dumps old tires sofa and fridge You will be clearing it
It might have clauses about maintenance etc on the lease.
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