Amenity woodland/land

[Letshopeforthebest]

Thinking about buying a small piece of woodland or land for quiet refuge, conservation and occasional camping. Has anyone done this? The costs for small amenity woodland/land seem high at the moment, is it worth it?

It can be worth it. Just remember if it has rights of way you will have to keep those and keep good access to them. If it has boundaries on property / roads/ footpaths you will have to survey the trees and get tree safety work done as appropriate. There are probably other things that might crop up like occasional fly tipping, quad bike riding depending on where it is. Just some other things to consider.

I looked into it a few years ago and didn't. Woodlands.co.uk was the main sales site and had lots of info. I didn't like the covenants, and the maintenance and security overhead is a lot. Plus a lot of the woods were right by main roads so not peaceful!

Do you really want to go to the same place on holiday?

Would go to the same place if we could get somewhere near the coast or with a stream, but I think those are much harder to find unfortunately.

Yes, a stream makes the wood so much more usable for camping. That was on my wish list. Plus vehicle access to site.

I have done this and still own my woodland.
It is definitely worth it if you have a wood burning stove and plan to get your woodland into rotational coppice.
Also worth it for the sheer joy of getting to know your wood and supporting it's diversity and health.

Things to think about before purchase are.
How far are you willing to travel to and back from your wood to get maximum use?
Check the land is naked ie no rights of way or ransom belts around gates that you need to enter in order to access your wood.
Check the fencing, if there isn't any then that will be a hefty cost if you want to keep livestock and trespassers out. Goats and sheep can and do wreak havoc on young trees by ringing them. Poor fencing can be repaired with the right kit such as a strainer and post knocker. (not that expensive to get a sheep fencing kit together)
Go after heavy rain and make sure you do not have a bog where you do not want a bog
In fact it is worth starting looking in Winter so you see the most wet conditions first and get a feel of how bad it can be underfoot and where.
Check your access for steepness, mud and general conditions, you won't be getting through bad ground in a hatchback, nor will visitors.
Think about a water source, it is nice to take a Berkey water filter and use Spring or rain instead of carting tons of water around.

That is the best I can think of for getting started on a search.

Be ready for it to become and all encompassing hobby that you become obsessed with and end up spending every penny on chainsaws, axes, draw knives, kelly kettles, reference books etc.

Don't expect constant visitors, you will get a flood at the start and then people lose interest. Which works for me and my partner, but might not if you are hoping to get the entire family involved.

I have never enjoyed anything quite as much as I enjoy my wood custodianship and I have learned HEAPS of things. Good luck definitely have a good look into it and read some blogs by people who have done it, we are all different and do it for different reasons.

We have an area of woodland but it is slightly different to what you are talking about as it is attached to our garden.

I love wandering through it, finding wildflowers and fungi. And the foxes' stash of stolen tennis balls. A few times a year I put up a wildlife camera and love seeing the hidden life of the wood while we are sleeping. There are badgers, foxes, deer, rabbits, etc.

Watch out for ash dieback. A lot of our trees are affected. Some will become dangerous at some point and will need felling. This will be expensive. It is a major issue in some parts of the country.

I agree with the previous poster about spending an inordinate sum on chainsaws and other kit.

Woodlands.co.uk on insta has some posts from people who have bought amenity woodland sometimes. That might be worth a look.

You are only allowed to camp for 28 days a year in your own woodland without planning permission.

If you charcoal burn your willow and hazel coppice for lumpwood charcoal you are obligated to be onsite overnight for safety reasons, as many times as is necessary.

Another reason why putting your woodland to rotational coppice and traditional forestry use, has some nice benefits.

I recommend Ben Law's books on traditional woodland management. He goes into all of this.

I also recommend anyone in any doubt about what is and is not legal and the various planning permissions regarding agricultural land or woodland gets a copy of the Rural Planning Handbook by Simon Fairlie.

It is written in lay persons plain speak, has examples of case law and is very clear about what is and is not legal and acceptable to planning in England and Scotland and Wales.

A friend has done this by accident. She bought it to start a forest school, but no business plan or planning permission in place. So ended up with an expensive piece of woodland she cannot afford to properly maintain several miles away from home. The mortgage is crippling her financially (extended house mortgage to be able to buy the land).
She would be selling at a loss, and yet can’t really afford to keep or maintain it. It’s used maybe a once or twice a month for a few hours at most, as there are no amenities to use- no toilet, water etc.
she thought she would be able to camp on it, just her and a friend - but even that isn’t allowed and neighbours are very quick to report.
I think the advise would be research, research, research and yet more research, and think of it as money lost not an investment.

That is a shame, but I am quite surprised that she is not able to sell at a profit as currently woodland and agricultural land has been outpacing inflation and increasing in value by over 16% per year since 2020. I watch the prices quite closely as I have a vested interest in it. The increase in value is due to woodland being a finite resource in the UK that is in demand for carbon offsetting as well as timber and bio mass production.

I think it is a mistake to incur debt on land ever. It is however a reliable sink for lump sum money currently with a decent return in value and that is not including what you can take off it in terms of wood/timber value which is free energy if you have a wood-burner.

That all makes it sound a bit cold but as you say research is important when large amounts of investment capital are being used.

@Coppicekipper it is in a really awkward place to get any vehicle bigger than a small family car too. It’s on a very steep incline and the wood isn’t of great quality. Everything in and out would be manual labour, no machinery would be able to gain access. She simply can’t afford to get it logged, cleared and replanted. The land cannot was used for anything else.
Basically she would need one of the neighbouring houses to want to buy it to add to their already big gardens, which given they sold it to her, probably isn’t going to happen, unless any new owner wants it back.

Aish that is quite literally a very steep learning curve. Is it fir trees? If it is she might be able to get hold of someone like Tony Wrench (he is based in Wales and he builds turf roofed roundhouses and helps people/organisations who want to build round houses source timber for them from existing woodland that is not broadleaf)
It is very likely that the only approach is going to be using traditional felling and a horse to pull useful timber out. People do this and people are definitely interested in doing this. It sounds as though your friend needs some help in getting her woodland put to a use that can get her out of the situation she is in or maybe even help support her to get some input and new ideas.

I would suggest that she looks up Tony Wrench on Google and sends him a message telling him what she has and what her circumstances are. He may very well be able to connect her with people or support in her area that may be able to offer her some ideas or assistance going forward.

As you said research is important, but sometimes a connection to people who have been doing this sort of thing for a long time can help where research failed.
I really wish her well and hope she can meet some great people who are keen to help her make the best of her woodland. It is a very easy mistake to make but may yet come right.

@Coppicekipper thats lovely - thank you! I will pass the information to her. Sounds like a plan can be made to enable her to move on from this.

@Coppicekipper Some good advice, thanks. Do you think prices have now peaked?

Definitely not peaked. They are going up and will continue to go up as people and corporations and investment companies put lump sum assets into agricultural land and woodland rather than savings, stocks or bonds which currently are precarious.

They are going up because no inheritance tax, no major maintenance, carbon credit facility and a finite and limited resource.

My advice is definitely to buy now and not wait, but only AFTER doing the checks I mentioned above.

Woodlands UK would not be my first point of call to buy they are over priced. But they are good for market watching.

Shop around the local farmers estate agents closest to you and talk to the land agents about what you want. Look at the other competition woodland sites selling as they tend to be more realistic in price, compare acreage and access and price across all the sellers in your area.

I bought my land via a farming estate agent, via a friend who is a farmer. I did not pay woodland UK prices and still wouldn't now. Remember what I said about water being good in the right place and bad in the wrong place and ransom strips. You want naked land.

Definitely do not hang about if you want to do this, the price is trending up still and has been for the last three years.

Good luck, get the right spot for your investment and you will be a very happy woodland custodian.

There is a small woodland next to a field I own which was bought by a couple who live in a city about 40 minutes drive away. Their son & grandchildren live closer.

They have made it lovely and get a lot of pleasure from it. We like the fact that it is well looked after, and have rented them a bit of our field for a peppercorn rent.

They come once a week (on a weekday) to do stuff and occasionally have family picnics and campouts in it at weekends.

Occasionally local youths invade when they aren't there but if I hear them I see them off.

I think it is a lovely thing.

That is exactly the sort of woodland custodian story that is smashing to hear and so much nicer than hearing Heathrow Airport consortium have bought it for green washing and are planting spruce. Your woodland folk neighbours are very lucky to have you. :) I hope their good practice and considerate woodland management enriches your life as much as you do theirs.

@Coppicekipper Have you any idea what sort of price we should be looking at for about 4 acres with good access (not 4x4) and a stream?

Make sure there’s no opportunity for trees to fall onto road during storm (major arse ache). Also fencing is quite expensive to maintain