Buying woodland ???

[Tantalus]

yeah tony i gotta agree

I wasnt being entirely serious

there are running costs and other things to consider too

agreeing who is responsible for what would tale a small army of lawyers to administer, or worse................. a comittee :yikes:

i know nobody wants to think of this stuff but.....

what happens if one member dies, goes bankrupt and is forced to sell, gets sick and can not work and can no longer afford to pay their share of the maintainance costs ? etc etc etc

it has the potential to turn into a real legal battle, which specially among a group of friends can leave a really sour taste in everyones mouth

sorry to put such a downer on the thread

Tant

 

[Stew]

.... or worse................. a comittee :yikes:

Where's the shudder smiley?

Ah well, this'll have to do!
:stooges:

 

[Squidders]

Oh you lot... always seeing the light side of things

 

[mr dazzler]

To answer your Q Rob, have a look at some of the real estate sites-type in french property or "foret a vendre" word search. I've seen entire habitable farm complexes with 5 or 6 acres of woods about 100,000 euros/£65-70,000 (house, barns, well, stables ect.) Obviously you wouldn't want the buildings, but gives you some idea of relative values compared to here. Sometimes you see a fishing lake (catfish carp) surrounded by woods prices depend on wether you want to build (if planning permission is likely to be granted) location and size, sometimes with small hunting shack lodge. Like Keith Beefy said, its worth getting off the beaten track, theres lots of woodlands especially hardwoods (they burn oke and ashe!!!) friendly respectful people who know a lot about wood etc. Sangliers (wild pigs) in quite a few places. Plenty of Chasser (hunting) culture.
I've seen building land going for £5 - £6 sq meter(not sq ft!!)sometimes plots include woodland. Just find out if "Wimpies" are likely to build nearby in the near future, or motorway or airport!! :roll:
I'm getting a plot next year about 1 1/4 acre behind my property in a village in Normandy, and it'll cost me £1,300. I'm going to plant it out as a small new "wood/orchard"-poplars, ash, alder, and apple (of course!!) Something for me to work on and for the kids to enjoy when I'm gone.

 

[Oakleaf]

I took tone of thread to be leaning on humorous side, but with a 'hmm lets think about this' element too.

Yes serious matter, yes potential to go very badly wrong and end acrimoniously - that above all else would be the antithesis of what the Forum stands for. Difficult? Given the number of clubs and associations - eg Rugby, Hockey etc that own their own assets, manage them and break up etc this is not quite so out of the ordinary.

Though valid point - unlikely to be a project to see a capital return. But then key aim would be the Bushcraft rather than investment angle. Certainly not something to plough thousands each into. But a more moderate subscription? Either membership dues - or shares.

Not intending to heavily push this or turn thread heavy. Just think this is an interesting thing to kick around and see where it goes. My apologies to the originator for taking this tack if original post was entirely humorous.

 

[Paganwolf]

Howbout i just buy it n we all live on it like hippies :hurra: bushcrafty hippies that is :shock:

 

[Stew]

Howbout i just buy it n we all live on it like hippies :hurra: bushcrafty hippies that is :shock:

Ok then, we'll hold you to that!!
):

Quick, don't let him get away!

:BlueTeamE

 

[Keith_Beef]

Well, I'll have a look in the hunting magazines I've got with me, and try to give you some idea of prices.

But it's very variable, depending (or course) on location, area, water courses, wildlife (game!) accessibility.....


Off the top of my head, I would say that:

- Normany is a big , too close to London and to Paris.
- South West can be affordable, good climate, and not overcrowded,
- Ardennes / Picardy: a bit close to Paris, a bit flat, but boar,
- Vosges: larch and pine forests, cross country skiing in winter, boar
- South East: mountainous pine forests susceptible to forest fires...


Keith.

 

[Kim]

I reckon you could end up getting a return on your investment. There are plenty of people out there who would be willing to pay a nominal fee for land to be bushcrafty on, groups, companies, individuals. I'm not sure how regulations re use of the land would work in that instance, but bushcraft is a growing interest field with not enough freeliy accessible space to use.
:?:

Go on Jon-Paul, you know you want to buy some land...

(not encouraging for selfish reasons at all...no siree, not me... )

 

[Keith_Beef]

OK, I have found a small ad in the current issue of "Plaisirs de la chasse".

64 hectares of woodland with two rivers and ruins of a small castle in north Dordogne, 150,000 euros. (2344 Euros per hectare)

72 hectares in north Brittany with a stream, 205,000 Euros. (2847 Euros per hectare)


There are other properties in the same ad, but less interesting (more expensive, with farmhouses, fields of oats...)


Keith.

 

[ESpy]

£787 per acre for the larger one?

 

[Tvividr]

Guys, you are all looking at the wrong places ):
How about 6425 acres of this place

for 857,066.51 £. Price includes 2 dams, 7 boreholes, 2 houses, outbuildings, excellent road network. Well, perhaps not my first choice, but the area looks nice and has a very righ cultural history.

Or how about 2200 acres of this

for 235,739 £ including the house and this

Unfortunately for Stuart these 50.000 acres has recently been sold

Listed price was 857,066.51 £

Or you could rent land in Mozambique - say 10 x 10 km for less than 1000 £ for 99 years :biggthump

You guys buy the land, and I will run the place :roll: :mrgreen:
And oh yes..... I do have a formal educational background in Game Ranch Management and Nature Conservation in South Africa....... although is quite a while since I had practical experience of this

Check out these, and give me a call ):

www.gameranches.com
http://gameranch.wildnetafrica.com/index.html
http://www.gamefarmnet.co.za/

Current exchange rate is something like 11.6783 Rand (ZAR) to 1 British pound

 

[Rob]

Ahem!.

Wow!

Another thing to occupy my work days

):

 

[Lurch]

i know nobody wants to think of this stuff but.....
what happens if one member dies, goes bankrupt and is forced to sell, gets sick and can not work and can no longer afford to pay their share of the maintainance costs ? etc etc etc
it has the potential to turn into a real legal battle, which specially among a group of friends can leave a really sour taste in everyones mouth

You'd create a trust. Each individual puts their cash into the trust which then buys and owns the woods, in return the individual gets the use of the woods subject to conditions. No one now 'owns' any part and cannot attempt to pull out cash or ownership.
Maintenance costs can be met by letting out to other bushcrafters on particular days.

No, I wouldn't do it either! :biggthump

 

[Moonraker]

OK, I have found a small ad in the current issue of "Plaisirs de la chasse".

64 hectares of woodland with two rivers and ruins of a small castle in north Dordogne, 150,000 euros. (2344 Euros per hectare)

72 hectares in north Brittany with a stream, 205,000 Euros. (2847 Euros per hectare)


There are other properties in the same ad, but less interesting (more expensive, with farmhouses, fields of oats...)


Keith.

I was thinking about it too Keith but looking quite hard the prices are pretty much the same as in the UK or even higher. I guess because there is a ready market for the chasseurs. I asked a local agent and he said it was tough to find woodland or forest and most already had local hunters with rights to hunt which I would not want.

There are a LOT of English people who have brought carp lakes etc especially in the N and W and prices were cheap but gone up a lot.

And as you know sorting out the legal position and sorting out the paperwork is often a complete mare

Check out Bulgaria Belogradchik. 14 acres for £19k and no permission needed to build house!

Maybe Spain (but watch local rights to take land from foreign owners!) or Portugal.

 

[Keith_Beef]

I was thinking about it too Keith but looking quite hard the prices are pretty much the same as in the UK or even higher. I guess because there is a ready market for the chasseurs. I asked a local agent and he said it was tough to find woodland or forest and most already had local hunters with rights to hunt which I would not want.

There are a LOT of English people who have brought carp lakes etc especially in the N and W and prices were cheap but gone up a lot.

And as you know sorting out the legal position and sorting out the paperwork is often a complete mare

Check out Bulgaria Belogradchik. 14 acres for £19k and no permission needed to build house!

Maybe Spain (but watch local rights to take land from foreign owners!) or Portugal.

Yes, there can be hunting rights that you need to allow for, and the price of land can be very variable.

Tvividr's post is interesting, as are your comments on Bulgaria. I was speaking to a chap from Lithuania about buying chunks of forest a little while ago, and the prices sounded good.

But distance, travel costs and unfamiliar local legal systems (or simply arbitrary decisions by local potentates) would put me off some countries. And having an excessively dry climate would spoil some of the fun.

Now that Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia and Slovakia are members of the EU, maybe we should be looking at these countries...


Keith.

 

[tenbears10]

That Bulgaria stuff looks great Moonraker. The travel is a bit much from the UK I think. But maybe the price makes up for the distance.

Bill

 

[R-Bowskill]

Of course if I could get Canadian citezenship I'd go for a 100 - 120 acre gold claim in British Columbia, Some of them have cabins and equipment with them. A nice placer claim like that either in the hills or on vancouver island would be a good place to spend a copuple of years practicing bushcraft and persueing my other outdoor love....finding gold.

 

[Moonraker]

That Bulgaria stuff looks great Moonraker. The travel is a bit much from the UK I think. But maybe the price makes up for the distance.

Bill

That is true tenbears10 although reading about it a LOT of Brits and others are buying property there already even though it is outside the EU still. Because it is very cheap still, cost of living is very cheap and parts are beautiful. Can't help feeling sorry sometimes for locals in these situations even here in France they complain about prices rocketing like in the UK ( although not as much!). But equally they are very happy to sell at these prices which otherwise they would not get.

I have no idea where it will all end... But I think it is better for people who love the natural environment to get in there than property developers simply looking to cash in.