We need a stable environment (From Worcester News)

We need a stable environment

9:05am Monday 15th June 2009

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IT’S probably every horse owner’s dream to live in a house with a few acres at the side, a small yard of stables and everything on hand, so they don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn and drive miles to a livery to feed and muck out before going on to work.

And then doing it all again on the way home in the evening.

At a more professional level, others have the ambition to run their own training, racing or livery business. But the art of successfully purchasing, planning and/or developing an equestrian property is a complex matter best undertaken with professional advice.

This was the message from a major equestrian seminar held at Weston Park, Shropshire.

Called Saddle Up, the event was aimed at anyone who keeps horses, either for pleasure or for business, who wants to buy a home where they can be stabled comfortably.

More than 50 equestrian entrepreneurs, both amateur and professionals, attended the seminar and were urged to fix a game plan firmly in their mind – for two, five or 10 years – before beginning to build around that plan.

The message was backed up by speakers from Balfours property, planning and building surveying; legal advice from Martineau’s of Birmingham and from accountants Whittingham and Riddell.

Opening the day, Susie King, head of Balfours’ equestrian department, urged the audience to consider their vision and create a concept before looking at their own capabilities and knowledge.

She said: “You will need to put together a practical plan having first considered planning, legal and financial implications. First impressions count.

“Your enterprise will need a practical solution that you can live, which needs to be continually appraised to get the best out of your site. What are the resources and the topography? What surrounds the property? Take a look on Google Earth.”

Tim Main, head of residential sales at Balfours, said people should identify what they want from their property.

He said: “Do you have the potential to add property value, or is your enterprise ‘you’ and therefore the business value goes with you?”

He identified a cottage with five acres where facilities, including stables, a barn for forage and lorry plus a horse walker had all been added at considerable expense.

However, in the market place he said it was the value of the cottage, not the specialist facilities which sold the property.

Mr Main said: “Conversely, a well-appointed farmhouse with picture book stables in a landscaped yard setting – an idyllic family amateur set-up – was snapped up last summer within two weeks of it going on the market. While again the farmhouse held the main value, the stables and land were highly complementary.”

Martinueau’s property lawyer Michael Craik outlined the work involved in investigating a property for purchase. Issues he raised included due diligence, searches, title, planning, access, sporting rights and rights of way.

He illustrated the minefield of issues on a “mind map” demonstrating that many of the matters raised during purchase are items that should also be considered before developing a property.

Not everything requires planning permission, Balfours head of planning Karine Swanson said: “The most important thing is to take planning advice at a very early stage before embarking on a project. The only thing that can be done on agricultural land is to graze your horse.”

Andrew Downton of Balfours urged anyone planning a development to first consult a building surveyor.

He said: “We have seen instances where enthusiasts have employed a builder but have not considered dimensions properly. Consequently, we have been called in to salvage a barn built too low to house a horse lorry.”

Whittingham and Riddell accountant Tom Downes, asked: “Is your equestrian enterprise commercial or hobby? The type of business, whether you are trading, making, or holding investments, have major impacts on tax liabilities.

Riding schools and trekking business are examples of providing a service and therefore trading.”

Peter Cowdy, partner with Whittingham and Riddell, warned that crossing the border from farming – for which the Inland Revenue has strict definitions – into livery can have adverse tax implications, particular on the day of reckoning for the purpose of inheritance tax.

The audience was left in no doubt – running a successful equestrian business, or simply bringing an amateur dream to fruition is no different. Both benefit from saddling up for professional guidance to achieve the dream.

If you are interested in attending the next equestrian seminar please call Vicky Griffiths at Balfours on 01743 241181 or e-mail vickygriffiths@ balfours.co.uk

PICTURE 2 CAPTION: OUTSTANDING: The indoor menage at Woodstock Bower Farm, Stoke Bliss, near Tenbury Wells. The property offers a three bedroom cottage with nearly 90 acres of land which include a gallop, permanent pasture and woodland. There is also a barn with 20 stables, an office, a tack room, a staff room, a top yard with five loose boxes and a back yard with eight stables. It has outstanding views and good road connections. Knight Frank (01905 723438) is asking £675,000 for the propoerty.

A Place in the country

Sunnydene at Dunhampton, near Ombersley, Worcester, is the ideal place to run both a home and horses.

It’s a captivating period country house with original barns, formal gardens set out in a Victorian theme and there is separate access to six acres of land.

The outbuildings are reached across a walled courtyard. There is a vaulted main barn with power and light, a workshop area with a mezzanine floor and an office.

Adjoining the barn is an impressive brick-built stable block with two loose boxes. Beyond is a former bake house with a lavatory, stores and a fascinating part-derelict cruck barn – a magnificent space that is worthy of restoration.

The first section of grounds, beyond the formal gardens, are fenced and include grassland, an apple orchard and a post and wire enclosure which presents itself perfectly as a menage-in-progress.

The house has a big kitchen and breakfast room with bespoke oak units, a utility, a sitting room and a dining room.

Upstairs are two bedrooms and a bathroom.

Sunnydene is for sale at £595,000 and Andrew Grant, telephone 01905 734735, has more details.

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