Commonage

Kevhog1988

Hi All,

Im currently in the process of buying a house with some land and have noticed that there is also a section of commonage for sale within a short drive (20 mins). Im just looking for some pointers to add into some calculations ive been doing on it:

1: How hard is it to "heft" bought ewe lambs to a section of a hill?. As it is a shared commonage could i temporarily fence a small section and feed them there for a few weeks/months until they get to know there will be food there?.

2: With regards to the payments claimable. is bps the same for hill ground as lowland?. In my calculation ive allowed a figure of 187 per Hectare (Found this online).

3: How many ewes to the acre on marginal hill ground?.

Also, as someone with only experience of lowland sheep am i absolutely nuts to be even thinking of this?. Will be working full time with 3/5 days wfh.

Packrat

1. Hard. I had to drive them back every day for 3 weeks and 3 times a week for about 6 weeks, but they came from another part of the same unfenced hill.

No, no commonage shareholder would agree to another one fencing in a section of it even on a temporary basis.

2. Yes, but you need entitlements for to claim your portion of it. Are there any being sold with it?

Ask your planner to check if it's already being claimed.

3. About 2 but you would also need lowland in spring to lamb them on.

4. Yes. It's a time consuming hobby and you won't make a penny out of them.

Difficult pricks of other shareholders who don't want your sheep there could also be a problem.

Sorry for being so negative but commonage is a pain in the hole even for those of us who have had stock on one for generations.

Nobody in their right mind would buy into one without a significant piece of 'bottom land' being attached - in fact I don't think it's allowed legally.