Purchasing of woodland

[Chrisdisco]

Hi Everyone

                      I have been looking around for a few years now for a few acres of woodland to purchase. I realise that prices for everything seem to be silly at the moment. Doing a quick google, the highest average price seems to be £5,500 (probably for larger plots) according to forestresearch.gov.uk, but the prices I'm seeing are around £18,000 per acre for smaller plots! I do realise that companies buy large woodlands, split them and sell them off to make a profit.

 

My question really is - Does anyone have any advice for buying woodland other than from these companies? The only thing can think of doing is dropping into local farmers, but not sure how well that would be received.

 

Any advice or suggestion would be much appreciated!

 

Many thanks

Edited August 6, 2021 by Chrisdisco

[5thelement]

Just now, Chrisdisco said:

Hi Everyone

                      I have been looking around for a few years now for a few acres of woodland to purchase. I realise that prices for everything seem to be silly at the moment. Doing a quick google, the highest average price seems to be £5,500 (probably for larger plots) according to forestresearch.gov.uk, but the prices I'm seeing are around £18,000 per acre for smaller plots! I do realise that companies buy large woodlands, split them and sell them off to make a profit.

 

My question really is - Does anyone have any advice for buying woodland other than from these companies? The only thing can think of doing is dropping into local farmers, but not sure how well that would be received.

 

Any advice or suggestion would be much apricated!

 

Many thanks

I was looking for a decade in East Sussex, never found anything suitable and a minimum of 10 grand an acre. 
The last site I looked at was 1 acre, terrible access, terrible standing timber, not a flat section anywhere on the land, sold the same day for 18 grand.

Good luck.

[Paul in the woods]

When we bought our bit, just under 10 acres, we noticed some fields being sold that had a couple of acres attached. We contacted the vendor and came to an arrangement to buy the woodland plus some more. The type of people who wanted the fields would not have any use for the woodland so the vendor was happy with our offer. Worth scanning all the land adverts.

 

I don't know why more people don't compete with the wood lotting companies. They often buy larger woods that are marketed to all, then split them up. They don't pay anywhere near the 18k / acre but they do have the capital to buy say 100 acres at a time.

[devon TWiG]

Paul ...you hit the nail on the head !!  very few people can afford 100 acres !!   I am also amazed that the likes of Clegg and co sell to such companies to then see them virtually double the price   ..also very , very few woodlands ever come on to the market , especially small ones .  I bought from Woodlands ,co,uk , the woods is only 5 miles from me and ideal for my wants /needs and it is very doubtful I could find anything else for years .   If any one thinks it is that simple then perhaps buy a big wood and sell it off in bits and make a fortune 😁...

[Richard Farhall]

You could keep an eye on property auctions. Not sure where you are but I used to check in on this one:

Land And Property Auctioneers UK - Clive Emson

WWW.CLIVEEMSON.CO.UK

---

Clive Emson is one of the UK's leading property and land auctioneers. View, bid on, purchase and sell your property...

I live in East Sussex, just a few miles from one of the woods that a well-known wood lotting company is currently selling in c2 acre plots at £18,000 per acre - and they are actually selling We bought just over 16 acres of ancient woodland in March 2020 from one of the 'other ones' - just before everyone and their dog wanted their own 'COVID-free' open space. Had to borrow some of the purchase price but it worked out at £9,750 per acre - so fortuitious timing.

 

[Paul in the woods]

Just checked prices round here in Devon, they're selling a plant your own woodland (i.e. field) for 15k/acre. It was only about £10k/acre a couple of years ago. I paid less than £2k/acre for my woodland about 12 years ago.

 

As for affording 100 acres, the idea would be to borrow the money and pay it off by selling off some lots from the 100 acres. If I'd have done that when I first thought of it I'd be a millionaire by now. 🤣

 

I suppose the question is what way are the prices going to go now?

[devon TWiG]

38 minutes ago, Richard Farhall said:

You could keep an eye on property auctions. Not sure where you are but I used to check in on this one:

Land And Property Auctioneers UK - Clive Emson

WWW.CLIVEEMSON.CO.UK

---

Clive Emson is one of the UK's leading property and land auctioneers. View, bid on, purchase and sell your property...

I live in East Sussex, just a few miles from one of the woods that a well-known wood lotting company is currently selling in c2 acre plots at £18,000 per acre - and they are actually selling We bought just over 16 acres of ancient woodland in March 2020 from one of the 'other ones' - just before everyone and their dog wanted their own 'COVID-free' open space. Had to borrow some of the purchase price but it worked out at £9,750 per acre - so fortuitious timing.

 

sounds lovely ...but it is still about £150 k though , more than most can / will afford !!   but may well turn out to be a good investment ...

[marktownend]

Together with my siblings I've just bought 4 acres of stunning ancient woodland in Hampshire through Woods4Sale @ 13k per acre, nothing to do with Covid but because of receiving a legacy from an elderly aunt. Earlier this year we'd found a 10 acre piece just 2 miles from my home in Wiltshire for sale through a land agent which was sold with sealed bids and we were told we were significantly outbid at our bid of around 12k per acre. We decided after that to just accept that buying through a wood lotting company would add a premium but at least they've got the woodland for sale and otherwise we could be waiting years to source something suitable. Yes there probably are ways to find woodland at cheaper rates but we decided to take the easier option, even though I'm personally not actually keen on the splitting up of larger pieces.

[devon TWiG]

buying a woodland through the lotting companies is very quick and straightforward though, pay the asking price (no haggling usually ) and about 6 weeks and it's yours  ..trying through estate agents is a pain in the ass ...you make a bid , same as guide price and wait ages to hear that you were outbid ... then try and find another woods for sale could take ages for the same to happen again , and prices are often higher and stand alone woods that are small are rare , especially with good access etc .

[AHPP]

A vasectomy is also quick and straightforward.