Field rent increase - fair?

[jennyg]

Hello, just wondered if you thought this seemed a fair price to be paying?

I've been at my current field for almost 2 years and have been paying £25 per week. This includes a 3 acre field, 2 stables and a tack room with use of electricity and a re-fillable water trough. The down side is that there is hardly any storage for any hay - I can pile 10 bales into the tack room and that's it.

As a result of the lack of storage, I missed out on getting my hay made this year - I was reliant on one farmer making it who said he'd store it for me and then he let me down and cut it far too late and it was wrecked . If I'd had storage I could have found someone else to cut it.

So now I'm having to buy hay in for 2 horses (well one horse and a pony) and as there is barely any storage I can only buy in 10 bales at a time and so I get stung if the price of hay goes up part way through the winter. If I could have bought in bulk at the start of the autumn I would've been able to buy the lot at £3 per bale but now I'm paying £3.50.

To top it, the guy I rent the land off has told me today that he wants to up the rent to £30 per week.

Where as maybe £30 per week is the going rate, I feel cheesed off as I'm out of pocket over the hay - and now have a higher rental!

They've mentioned about me putting up a hay store myself - but that's even more expense!

Am I being unreasonable as £30 isn't really too bad? They are nice people other than the fact they've increased the rent and are happy to care for my horse if I go on holiday. Just feeling the pinch!

[anastasia55555]

I pay £25 per week for mine with field shelter, no electric or running water. Now pay another £5 a week as had hay shelter put up, but thats great as didnt have to pay whole amount up front. For me its cheap as chips after paying with my sister for 2 horses on grass diy @ £15 per week and 1 on grass and stable at £20 a week. Also friend who let us move his pony with us pays 1/3 towards field instead of £15 a week for his pony. We dont have loads of land so having to buy in lots of hay, more than i originally planned but thankgod i got the shelter built is all i can say!

[jen1]

tbh i think is peanuts,for 2 horses 3 acres its less than £5 per day per horse ,and electric isnt cheap either , if you assumed £1 per day for electric ,2 years with no increase is pretty good going,

[icarus]

Is that £30 per wk per horse?
I pay £125 per mth for four includes stable, grazing, use of electric but im very aware that this is very cheap and wouldnt get what ive got anywhere else.

[feemac]

No I don't think that's unreasonable esp if they look after your horses if you're on holiday. I think when you think about the cost of electricity, water, rates, cost of building the stables, fencing, insurance and the tax man there's not alot left believe me I know.

[jennyg]

It's £30 per week in total - not per horse.

I think what's bugged me is the fact there is a barn to store hay in, but he won't let me use it - he says he wants to clear it out to store his digger in it - even though there's room for about 3 diggers!

As a result, I've ended up with no hay of my own - so am having to buy in as well as pay more rent. Perhaps I'm being unreasonable.

I think the way I'm looking at it a bit is that for £25 per week I could be at a DIY livery yard with use of a manege and storage for my hay. Sort of feels like because I'm renting a private field, I'm paying more - so the companion pony is actually costing me an extra £22 per month in rent if you get me.

Think I'll have to lump it I suppose!

[Tuppence]

Silly question, but what is wrong with storing hay on palletts covered with a tarp?? Plenty of us manage perfectly well with that and it is certainly cheap.

[anastasia55555]

I can see what you mean about the storage etc and if you could find a diy yard for £15 a week each then there maybr some benefits, but you would have to put up with other people! also 24/7 turnout might not be possible

[izzy]

I think thats very reasonable considering i pay £65 pcm for 1 acre with field shelter and tack room built from refrigeration panels(dont get me wrong nothing wrong with them)water on site but frozen at moment and no electric.

When i just had a field years ago i stored my hay very sucessfully on pallets under a tarpaulin just dont stack to high.

Oh my landlords idea of keeping an eye on my horses is just that lol if they are standing they are ok!!

[sharonh]

Most diy yards I know don't give you much storage space anyway so I doubt you'd be any better off. Sounds like a bargain to me!

[cubic]

Dec 21, 2010 9:40:36 GMT 1 Tuppence said:

Silly question, but what is wrong with storing hay on palletts covered with a tarp?? Plenty of us manage perfectly well with that and it is certainly cheap.

Yes, I'm having to do this until our barn is built. It's not ideal but the tarp cost £15 and I've got improvised pallets. I also think your place sounds like a bargain, even though I can see why you're annoyed at how the owner has acted.

[nich]

at a DIY yard you would be paying per horse/stable. and living with the quirks of other liveries. and not all DIY yards have decent menages....

[julz]

where seamus was it cost £130 a month.... not good storage arrangement for hay or bedding.. there is a place above the tackroom where each livery that had a place up there was only allowed 20 bales at a time. some liveries had two horses living in. YO used to provide hay, but now only provides hay for use out in feilds. Any hay needed for ponies living in needs to be bought by the owner and stored somewhere.

£30 is great. Get a shelter put up for hay.. yes it's an expence but it's a one off, you'll get all your winter hay in it, and in the long run will be cheaper.

Currently for Jays feild Im paying £20 a month but that's just a feild..nothing else.

[companymagic]

I think £30 a week is more than fair. I can understand that not having storage upsets you and is costing you in the long term in hay prices, However I pay £160 for two stables a month then another £60 a month from Dec to April for turn out, plus £20 for my trailer to be parrked there, and I rent a half acre paddock next to my yard as summer grazing is to rich for my ponies at another £40 a month so that's a total of £280 a month for two ponies and that doesn't include Hay at all that I have to buy from the farmer at whatever he wants to charge..

So I would be really chuffed to have two stables and nice grazing for £30 a week... Even if I had to pay a bit more for hay :-)

[jen1]

jenny if it was yours, and you have bills and rates and a living to carve out , would you rent all that for £30 a week, id be wanting £60 ,i wouldnt rent a feild 1 acre for less than £40