How to finance an enclosed dog field

[Imascoldasice]

I’m keen to buy a field and hire it out by the hour to people whose dogs cannot otherwise be off lead. I have some equity in my house (about 20k) but no other savings. What would be the best way to go about this? Could I get a mortgage for the land? And a business loan for the fencing etc etc

@BatleyTownswomensGuild

No advice to give. But I'd totally value having a space like this to exercise my dog.

Are you in Batley West Yorkshire?

If yes, there's one in the Pudsey/Tong area and the RSPCA centre at East Ardsley has one too.

Weird about the no staffing thing - none of the fields here do that anymore for the same reasons described above. Pisstakers, people sharing the key code, accessing out of hours without paying, not picking up after the dogs etc.

If you think it's a business that runs itself, I can't see how that can be sustained that long term. You'll need to be monitoring, even remotely, near constantly.

For someone above who talks about a single field not paying - most around here are split into 3 or 4 sections so you can rent out multiple fields every hour. It works very well.

@BarbaraofSeville am in Essex (The Batley Townswomen's Guild is a Monty Python reference). But thank you anyway

Yes, I realise it will need maintaining and will be a lot of hard work.
My question was how I might be able to raise the funds to purchase the land.
People who live in a different area obviously have different experiences regarding staffing etc.
I have plenty of local knowledge and connections to people who are already running a similar business.

[quote BatleyTownswomensGuild]@BarbaraofSeville am in Essex (The Batley Townswomen's Guild is a Monty Python reference). But thank you anyway [/quote]
Where in Essex?
The one I go to is in Upminster

[quote BatleyTownswomensGuild]@BarbaraofSeville am in Essex (The Batley Townswomen's Guild is a Monty Python reference). But thank you anyway [/quote]
Oops .

DP is always saying that I'm a cultural philistine, but I've seen very little of Monty Python, despite DF being a big fan while I was growing up and DP also watching it enough over the years to be able to quote a lot of it verbatum and know all the 'in' jokes.

I'm around when its on, just never pay attention.

Hope you find somewhere to walk your dog

I wonder .....if you need to get planning permission with there being objections from local residents🤔
It sounds like a money spinner if you're a dog person?

We have these near us and they are great. All dog owners care about is that it's securely fenced. That's it. Oh and Poo bins.

Honestly. Nothing else matters.

Ones we have are bookable by app. Paid online/PayPal.

Good luck (no idea about financing sorry!)

You'd need a business loan not a mortgage.

Create a business plan.
I would model repaying £40k over 5 years - costing around £170 a week - and model your income eg 40 hours a week of usage at £10/hour = £400 a week less any costs for water/staffing/maintenance.

You will need to invest some of your own money in the venture, you could increase your mortgage maybe? I imagine a lender would expect you to have at least £5k of your own money to put in.

Dog fields are incredibly popular in Cambridgeshire where I am.

£10 for an hour for one dog.
Fully fenced, a few hay bales, tyres, jumps for the dogs, a dog bin at the entrance.

No staff, toilets etc

A new one has just opened and it’s open from 6am-9pm, and pretty much booked solid.

£10 for an hour for one dog
thats not cheap! esp if you have more than one dog and want them to have offlead time every day👀

@oil0W0lio

£10 for an hour for one dog thats not cheap! esp if you have more than one dog and want them to have offlead time every day👀

That’s Cambridge prices for you! I think it’s only an extra few pound per extra dog.

@oil0W0lio

£10 for an hour for one dog thats not cheap! esp if you have more than one dog and want them to have offlead time every day👀

Obviously people are different but I have a couple of friends who use dog fields but not as an every day walk, maybe once a week or fortnight and I'm pretty sure the one friend who has 2 dogs doesn't pay twice as much.

I see quite a few advertised locally so assume there must be a demand and I can see why as there aren't many places round me where you can let your dog off the lead and know they'll be totally safe.

You say you have a job. Where will the land be? Will you be able to leave work and get to the field in a short amount of time if there is an issue?

I think to give yourself a good chance of getting a business loan for land purchase you would have to draw up a detailed plan with some market research ie you need a customer base of around 300 users within 1 hr drive who will use the site at least once a month all year round etc; you have factored in car parking costs, accessibility & safety, getting rid of dog poo bins, insurance, marketing etc. And a reasonable idea that these fields will continue to be popular in five years time etc.
Surveys of local dog walkers etc could be helpful.
You could also investigate the demand for hiring it out to dog trainers, agility sessions, scent training etc.

OP, why don't you forget about getting into debt to the tune of £30-40k and instead rent a field? You say it's a lot of work/investment for rented land, but business people do that every day when they lease stores and restaurants. You'd be looking at £2-3k investment instead. Plus, you get to choose the rental based on existing fencing and amenities. If after 4 years you think somewhere else would be better, you move on.

If you have a dog poo bin on site, you'll probably have to pay to have it removed as hazardous waste, so factor in that as a cost.

Have you spoken to any Insurance Company about Public Liability Insurance? How are you going to get rid of dog waste? Will hazard waste companies require a staff member on site when they collect. Carparking could be another issue. Who is going to check the site regularly for things like broken glass etc that could injury dogs paw, admittedly it is unlikely but we had a case that a local beauty spot was sprinkled with glass from a nearby resident who did not want dogs or swimmers. Quite a few dogs and kids were injured before he was caught. How are you going to manage payment if you are not on site? What is your liability when someone tries to claim over the fence and get injured? Have you researched planning? Do you need to get change of usage.

To be fair no one can really advise you how to finance this plan without you giving a ballpark figure of all of these things.

I use secure fields all the time (Essex/Herts). One is a fiver for 45 mins and a pound extra per each extra dog. It’s basic: a few tyres, no bins.
The other is £12 an hour, so a lot more ££. But, it’s bigger, has a toilet (long drop with sawdust so no cleaning needed) and poo bins, agility obstacles etc, shelter for owners. It has CCTV and coded access. I have a reactive dog so these fields are great. You do need to think about parking and security. Neither are manned.

Re payment: all done online. Code tested for gate 24 hours in advance.

I wondered how you got on? Did you look into possibility of renting a field instead on a long lease. Not sure the rent would be but dog fields in South East appear to charge £10 per hour session and are operational up to 12 hours a day.

They are £6 per 30 mins locally I wouldn’t pay more than that and 30 mins is plenty. Some have agility equipment, they all have a picnic bench and water bins and spare bags
there is one I know of who does group dog ‘play dates’ however that’s not for me
I am busy teaching my dog recall so I can not pay to let him run about as it’s not cheap

I thought about this having been a user of one in the past. Reality I think the business model is shrinking just because they reached a peak of height during covid. With people cutting back perhaps even taking the cheaper option to just go to a local park may be the case these days.

the One I used was simply a field that you got provided the combination code for so can be cheap to set up. That being said you’ll need to factor in security fencing/lighting to get decent returns in the winter. You’ll need planning permission and shouldn’t really be a problem (I’m a planner) but very much depends on the site what it’s next to, how many people would be on site (presumably one family limited to a couple of dogs at time to reduce noise to neighbours etc). The real problem I think you’ll find is cost of land is at an all time high most land in accessible locations are earmarked by developers I.E a decent plot on the edge of town with good thoroughfare to generate business will most likely be tied up. More rural you go the more out of the way it is for people to access or having to spend more money on fuel to the point it may not add up due to their personal circumstances.

it may be better to approach a farmer asking to lease a plot of land to see if it’s a viable business model. However if you go through with purchasing a plot could be worth it if you bought the right plot E.g one that you can use as a business now but has the potential for future development if you need to sell on e.g housing, commercial sheds etc.