I've recently been given the oppurtunity to buy a small area of woodland, I went to have a look at it today and its cracking, its only 5 acres plus 3 acres of scrub. good mix of trees and wildlife with a stream flowing through its outer edge. Only problem is that its difficult to get to due to it being in a glen but its cracking. And its horrifically cheap, the guy that owns it is leaving the country and wants to sell fast plus he's a friend of the family so im sure im not getting conned.I was just wondering if i bought it am i obligated to do anything with it in any way? Going to get some legal professional to sort the buying details out so if there's anything not good im sure I'll find out.Anyone own land that could tell me of anything i should know about before buying?Cheers
Buying woodland
- Thread starter Thenihilist
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Yes, there can be obligations but a lot depends on the individual circumstances. There may be local regulations for water management for example, in some parts you have to pay a small sum annually to cover the maintenance of the drainage infrastructure. Thesedays unfortunately you might find yourself having to take action because of disease. There are regulations about how much wood you can take but I doubt you;d be thinking of harvesting it.
You need to look into it carefully. I couldn't give you any specific advice but I would say don't let anyone hurry you into a rash decision with some incredibly good offer, even if it's a friend -- especially if it's a friend who's emigrating.
You need to look into it carefully. I couldn't give you any specific advice but I would say don't let anyone hurry you into a rash decision with some incredibly good offer, even if it's a friend -- especially if it's a friend who's emigrating.
As has been said, there may be obligations but a good solicitor should spot them - I found ours by looking on one of those woodland sale web sites as they listed solicitors who were experienced with land sales. You may have obligations to maintain fences for example, I managed to ensure the owners of bordering fields with livestock were liable for the fences as their animals would be at risk and do the damage!
Also the government can force you to do things, for example removing diseased trees. Probably not that likely unless it's full of larch or you plan to plant a large number of trees.
If it has had trees planted in the last 10-15 years there may be obligations to maintain the trees if the planting was grant funded.
If it borders a road you may have to trim the trees or at least check them or you may be liable if they cause an accident.
If it has a public footpath that also has obligations to keep it clear, IIRC.
Insurance is something to consider, we've now got ours on our household insurance for about £80 a year, sounds like a lot but people do have a habit of hurting themselves and blaming others!
Also the government can force you to do things, for example removing diseased trees. Probably not that likely unless it's full of larch or you plan to plant a large number of trees.
If it has had trees planted in the last 10-15 years there may be obligations to maintain the trees if the planting was grant funded.
If it borders a road you may have to trim the trees or at least check them or you may be liable if they cause an accident.
If it has a public footpath that also has obligations to keep it clear, IIRC.
Insurance is something to consider, we've now got ours on our household insurance for about £80 a year, sounds like a lot but people do have a habit of hurting themselves and blaming others!
There are a few things but its not onerous by any means. Use a solicitor with experience in woodland purchase to conduct a search to check on things like sporting rights or any covenants that might be in force.
Check if there is a vehicular right of access to the wood which could be important if you want to get big stuff in or out.
Check if its freehold or leasehold.
Check fencing and footpath obligations if any.
If it is deciduous or semi ancient than there are no requirements re. management although you are free to manage if you wish. I'm not sure on the rules with coniferous plantations.
You can legally fell a certain amount of timber each year. I forget the amount.
check out this website - www.woodlands.co.uk
Check if there is a vehicular right of access to the wood which could be important if you want to get big stuff in or out.
Check if its freehold or leasehold.
Check fencing and footpath obligations if any.
If it is deciduous or semi ancient than there are no requirements re. management although you are free to manage if you wish. I'm not sure on the rules with coniferous plantations.
You can legally fell a certain amount of timber each year. I forget the amount.
check out this website - www.woodlands.co.uk
Cheers guys
I would like to do some management but not on a commercial basis, but id like to coppice the hazel and willow for basketry and other projects, to my untrained eye part of it seems like very old woodland judging by the size of some of the oaks and the fact that there are two lime trees, im sure its been under management at some point.
on the 3 acres of scrub id like to plant some trees but everything id want to do would be for bushcrafting purposes.
After a quick internet search I filound a firm that's recommended for land sales in my area so I'll give them a phone and find out everything I need to know.
Quite exciting this lol
I would like to do some management but not on a commercial basis, but id like to coppice the hazel and willow for basketry and other projects, to my untrained eye part of it seems like very old woodland judging by the size of some of the oaks and the fact that there are two lime trees, im sure its been under management at some point.
on the 3 acres of scrub id like to plant some trees but everything id want to do would be for bushcrafting purposes.
After a quick internet search I filound a firm that's recommended for land sales in my area so I'll give them a phone and find out everything I need to know.
Quite exciting this lol
Dreadhead
Bushcrafter through and through
nice one rob wish i was back north of the border again! if only you had found this while we were at uni
Wish I had the money when we were there lol if I buy it you can consider yourself as having a standing invitation to play about in it.
There was a cracking woodland right next to the accomadation in aberdeen
Dreadhead
Bushcrafter through and through
superb finally a happy place to play cowboys and indians!
granted the woodland there was pretty cool with the ice cave and whatnot. anyway ill stop hijacking your thread good luck with the woodland bud
granted the woodland there was pretty cool with the ice cave and whatnot. anyway ill stop hijacking your thread good luck with the woodland bud
Hi,
The people at the small woodland owners group are a good source for info on 'small' woodlands!
www.swog.org.uk
Hope this helps you lucky man.
Cheers
Boots
The people at the small woodland owners group are a good source for info on 'small' woodlands!
www.swog.org.uk
Hope this helps you lucky man.
Cheers
Boots
Good luck with it and keep as posted as to your progress. You might want to check out the programme running on BBC4, Tales From The Wild Wood - episode 2 was all about hazel coppicing.
It also showed how managing even a small wood was a full time occupation. Rewarding (spiritually rather than financially) nonetheless. Missed out on an opportunity to buy some prime woodland just up the road from me but didn't really have the cash at the time. I'm hoping the new owners will manage it properly or at least not restrict access
Thank you for that, I may well be looking to buy some wood land in the next year or so, very helpful site
Buying woodland is so fashionable now that the price per acre can be as much as £10000 for prime ancient woods.
:yikes:
I wish I'd got into woody/bushy activities when nobody wanted to buy them!
:yikes:
I wish I'd got into woody/bushy activities when nobody wanted to buy them!
Planning legislation for small woodlands PDF. might be handy for some of you lot.
Personally I could do with a decent wadge of cash before that info is any use at all to me but it might help someone with that wadge sitting.
Personally I could do with a decent wadge of cash before that info is any use at all to me but it might help someone with that wadge sitting.
Only if Ash is the main tree cover, on the other hand it might make ash free woodlands more expensive. I didn't detect any price falls when there were stories about oak dying out.
However, I would be cautious buying a woodland full of mature trees unless you could cope with felling them. A nice diverse woodland would be a sensible bet.
Some interesting things being pointed out, cheers for the pointer to Tales from the wild wood - just watched them all and looking forward to seeing how the charcoal burn goes.
Another thing worth watching out for are invasive species. While there's no legal obligation to deal with them you're not going to want to watch your land being taken over.
Even if the wood you're looking at is clear it'd be worth a wander around the surrounding area looking out for Rhododendron, Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed or Himalayan balsam - get a lie of the land and see if the neighbours are having problems with any of them.
I help out a friend with some maintenance in his woods and it's something worth bearing in mind - that you have neighbours and their decisions can affect your own.
For instance we've been making inroads into the rhodies along the northern border but the neighbouring property in that direction is seriously infested and looks likely to remain that way - making re-infestation a certainty.
Similarly another stretch borders FC land and this time it's us that's not holding up our end. The FC have higher cull rates and see our wood as an unwelcome haven affecting their ability to control the local deer population.
Even the fish farm came as a bit of a surprise when it appeared. We knew the site was on the list but had forgotton about it over the years...
....then one day we had a new neighbour.
They're no bother of course, just an example of how things can change roundabout you in places where you imagine nothing ever changes.
Another thing worth watching out for are invasive species. While there's no legal obligation to deal with them you're not going to want to watch your land being taken over.
Even if the wood you're looking at is clear it'd be worth a wander around the surrounding area looking out for Rhododendron, Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed or Himalayan balsam - get a lie of the land and see if the neighbours are having problems with any of them.
I help out a friend with some maintenance in his woods and it's something worth bearing in mind - that you have neighbours and their decisions can affect your own.
For instance we've been making inroads into the rhodies along the northern border but the neighbouring property in that direction is seriously infested and looks likely to remain that way - making re-infestation a certainty.
Similarly another stretch borders FC land and this time it's us that's not holding up our end. The FC have higher cull rates and see our wood as an unwelcome haven affecting their ability to control the local deer population.
Even the fish farm came as a bit of a surprise when it appeared. We knew the site was on the list but had forgotton about it over the years...
....then one day we had a new neighbour.
They're no bother of course, just an example of how things can change roundabout you in places where you imagine nothing ever changes.
