Hi Bernie

Welcome to the list.

How much land you need will depend on what you want to do. Do you want
livestock? If
so, what sort and how many? Do you want to grow / rear food just for you and
your
family, or do you want to produce enough to sell? Will you strive for
self-sufficiency, or
will you be happy just to produce most of the herbs and vegetables you need for
a large
proportion of the year?

Some people accomplish an enormous amount on 1/4 acre; most serious organic
smallholders seem to have 1-3 acres for vegetarian / poultry use. As a rule of
thumb, add
1/4 to 1/2 acre per leg if you want 4-legged livestock! (Ie, 1-2 acres per
beast.)

Prices are rocketing for smallholding-type properties all over the UK right now.
Even
being able to comply with an agricultural occupancy restriction doesn't seem to
help. It
might be cheaper to buy a farm and sell off or rent out the surplus land.

Sorry I don't have access to my lists of property agents just at the mo, will
post some when
I get myself sorted. Meanwhile, try Stags for Exmoor/Devon, Woolley & Wallis
for mid-
South, Rural Scene. Buy copies of Smallholder and Country Smallholder - they
both have
ads from agents, and they're not all in Wales or Portugal!

Best of luck - if you find a good agent, or a good property that you're not
interested in
yourself, let the rest of us know!

Sally

--- In smallholding@..., "nu_start2003" <bfrigot@h...> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> My name is Bernie and I am a new member here. My first post (the
> first of many i hope)is to ask if anyone knows of a website or even
> land agent showing properties suitable for smallholding in the south
> of the U.K. Also any advice on the size of property I should be
> looking for would be appreciated. I am looking to become a
> smallholder in the next year and any advice what-so-ever would be
> great!!
>
> Cheers Bernie