New to purchasing a woodland

[AHPP]

Speak to your/an accountant and/or wealth manager.

[Johnboysevern]

Hi I agree with most of what Paul has Said.  Except that it can be an investment as for Some reason the value of owning woodland has rocketed in price! We bought ours in 2021 and the Value of our Property has gone up by about 8% per year in value. If you can get Permitted Development to build a wood store & tool shed for woodland maintainace the PD alone will add value to your property. Worth looking in to when you find your chosen woodland. You must take a good look at what you can legally do on your chosen property i.e Sporting Rights, Mineral Rights, Restrictive Covenants,Boundaries, Rights Of Way, Fencing Liabilities, maintenance clause, Public Rights of way etc. You probably will not be able to build any residential property either. A lot of the larger Forestry Companies have made it not Viable to harvest wood to sell as firewood as between them Government they have made it difficult to sell firewood. So you are better just using Firewood for yourself. We are starting to bring our wood back in to coppice rotation as it has been neglected for 30 years. Also planting new hazel for rotation. We are hopping to make use of the Coppice Hazel to make things to sell as a hobby. We enjoy being in their woodland - Wild camping, Wildlife Photography, cutting their own Coppice & firewood., We also do conservation work helping the wildlife & also provide a Release site for our Local wildlife Hospital., You can even enjoy Sports like Archery & Target Shooting.So there are many Benefits in owning a Wood. But there are also many problems that come with them too, Fly-tipping, Trespassers, insurance, fires, Windblown trees, Pests and diseases that can kill your trees & Maintenance Costs. So if you think you are going to Make loads of Money from your Wood you are not. You buy a wood to Enjoy & Look after for Wildlife & Future Generations  rather than money. It can be a rewarding long term investment Rather than a Business. As Paul said check out  https://myforest.sylva.org.uk/  and there other site

Woodland Wildlife Toolkit

WOODLANDWILDLIFETOOLKIT.SYLVA.ORG.UK

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The toolkit provides advice on managing woodlands for wildlife, in particular rare and declining species that are dependent on woodland habitats.

Also this link might be useful below for insurance.

Woodland Insurance | Ashburnham Insurance

WWW.ASHBURNHAM-INSURANCE.CO.UK

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Woodland insurance scheme for wooded areas occupied by trees. Low cost liability cover for all types of UK land owners.

 Hope this helps

[milkshakespoon]

2 hours ago, Johnboysevern said:

Hi I agree with most of what Paul has Said.  Except that it can be an investment as for Some reason the value of owning woodland has rocketed in price! We bought ours in 2021 and the Value of our Property has gone up by about 8% per year in value. If you can get Permitted Development to build a wood store & tool shed for woodland maintainace the PD alone will add value to your property. Worth looking in to when you find your chosen woodland. You must take a good look at what you can legally do on your chosen property i.e Sporting Rights, Mineral Rights, Restrictive Covenants,Boundaries, Rights Of Way, Fencing Liabilities, maintenance clause, Public Rights of way etc. You probably will not be able to build any residential property either. A lot of the larger Forestry Companies have made it not Viable to harvest wood to sell as firewood as between them Government they have made it difficult to sell firewood. So you are better just using Firewood for yourself. We are starting to bring our wood back in to coppice rotation as it has been neglected for 30 years. Also planting new hazel for rotation. We are hopping to make use of the Coppice Hazel to make things to sell as a hobby. We enjoy being in their woodland - Wild camping, Wildlife Photography, cutting their own Coppice & firewood., We also do conservation work helping the wildlife & also provide a Release site for our Local wildlife Hospital., You can even enjoy Sports like Archery & Target Shooting.So there are many Benefits in owning a Wood. But there are also many problems that come with them too, Fly-tipping, Trespassers, insurance, fires, Windblown trees, Pests and diseases that can kill your trees & Maintenance Costs. So if you think you are going to Make loads of Money from your Wood you are not. You buy a wood to Enjoy & Look after for Wildlife & Future Generations  rather than money. It can be a rewarding long term investment Rather than a Business. As Paul said check out  https://myforest.sylva.org.uk/  and there other site

Woodland Wildlife Toolkit

WOODLANDWILDLIFETOOLKIT.SYLVA.ORG.UK

---

The toolkit provides advice on managing woodlands for wildlife, in particular rare and declining species that are dependent on woodland habitats.

Also this link might be useful below for insurance.

Woodland Insurance | Ashburnham Insurance

WWW.ASHBURNHAM-INSURANCE.CO.UK

---

Woodland insurance scheme for wooded areas occupied by trees. Low cost liability cover for all types of UK land owners.

 Hope this helps

Thanks a lot this is really helpful. Sounds like you're living my dream!

[richyrich]

Maybe buy agricultural land and plant it yourself- grants are much better these days. See gov UK/forestry commission, etc. A few years ago woodland was very cheap, but thanks to the companies mentioned (plus demand) the prices have rocketed. I suppose they've brought it into a marketplace which is more appealing to some. I nearly bought some myself off them, but fortunately got some fenland instead.

[Paul in the woods]

Round here agricultural land can be much more expensive than woodland. I don't know about the current grants but the older ones had fairly strict obligations for looking after the trees, replanting failures etc and I think public access? 

 

Worth checking any future woodland purchase to see if any grants are running as you may have obligations passed on to you.

[Johnboysevern]

15 hours ago, milkshakespoon said:

Thanks a lot this is really helpful. Sounds like you're living my dream!

Only Problem is its 120 miles round trip as Could not Afford the local Price of woodlands in my local area so bought in Wales. Then there is the problem of Weather like we have had flooding Roads etc Can make it difficult to get there during the Coppicing Season over the winter, But other than that Enjoying it. 

Edited January 11 by Johnboysevern

[richyrich]

9 hours ago, Paul in the woods said:

Round here agricultural land can be much more expensive than woodland. I don't know about the current grants but the older ones had fairly strict obligations for looking after the trees, replanting failures etc and I think public access? 

 

Worth checking any future woodland purchase to see if any grants are running as you may have obligations passed on to you.

I think a ten year annual grant for looking after it- not Megabucks. But the initial grant covers 100%costs- I think.

Don't have to give public access but poss more ££ if you do- personally I would not.

One hectare minimum for Ewco grant but other organisations assist with smaller areas/grants.

Also countryside stewardship funding for some schemes but money doesn't cover costs on some projects..

In Yorkshire woodland prob same price as grassland now. 10-15 years ago alot less. Cheapest land is marginal upland but they don't fund planting on peat soils- although I read Scottish FC might allow downy birch etc..

[Justme]

On 10/01/2024 at 16:43, GarethM said:

 

 

I had one the other month asking about dog fields, she quickly realised fencing, planning etc etc makes it unviable. If it was I'd have done it 20 years ago 

Not so sure about that.

I did a processing job on a site that had a few paddocks full secure fenced with electronic access, cameras, secure parking. While we were there they were all in constant use by dog walkers. All booked online, given an access code to the paddock booked that only worked for the time booked. Yes lots of cost to set up, but after that run the sheep in to mow it as needed.

[GarethM]

8 minutes ago, Justme said:

Not so sure about that.

I did a processing job on a site that had a few paddocks full secure fenced with electronic access, cameras, secure parking. While we were there they were all in constant use by dog walkers. All booked online, given an access code to the paddock booked that only worked for the time booked. Yes lots of cost to set up, but after that run the sheep in to mow it as needed.

You need full planning permission, along with parking area etc.

 

All for an amazing £8-10 an hour on a 10k investment, there are about half a dozen within a 15 minute drive.

[AHPP]

3 minutes ago, GarethM said:

You need full planning permission, along with parking area etc.

 

All for an amazing £8-10 an hour on a 10k investment, there are about half a dozen within a 15 minute drive.

 

£50 a day for 250 days is £12,500.