Is £250,000 enough to escape the rat race?

Many of you who have become smallholders over the last quarter of a century were possibly inspired by the BBC's classic comedy The Good Life.

Tom Good (Richard Briars) decides he has had enough of the rat race and, with the help of his doting wife Barbara (Felicity Kendall) he turns the back garden of their suburban house into a miniature farm, much to the disgust of snobbish neighbours Margo and Jerry (Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington).

The more sensible among you probably did it differently, like selling up and moving to the country where farmyard smells and noises are not likely to cause quite so much controversy.

It was, of course, much easier to do back in the seventies when The Good Life set us all dreaming about escaping from the daily crush on the London Tube and the stresses of making money on the financial markets.

You could sell your town house for £45,000 and buy a cottage with a few acres in the country for £20,000. It was perfect for those of us who had the courage to take the plunge - freedom from back-stabbing office politics; no rush-hour battles; clean air; fresh, healthy food; normal blood pressure; no mortgage and (for a short time, at least) even some spare cash in the bank.

The dream of an eco-friendly, self-sufficient lifestyle caught on and more and more people started to appreciate that there was life west of Wimbledon. That, of course, was the problem. As the hoards of escapees cashed-in the equity on their city pads and headed for the hills, rural estate agents quickly realised that they were on to a winner.

The laws of supply and demand very soon came into play and those who left it too late missed the opportunity to take advantage of the vast differences in price between city and rural property in the most popular parts of the UK.

Cornwall - Smallholder magazine's home-base - used to be one of the cheapest places in the UK to live but that's all changed in recent years. You would probably now have to raise an extra mortgage to swap your three-bedroom home in the suburbs of London for a cottage with a couple of acres in the south western tip of England.

Spectacular scenery, a mild climate and the more relaxed lifestyle have attracted not just those who want to live off the land, but also thousands of retired folk who discovered that they could supplement their pensions by releasing equity in city homes and relocating to the peace, quiet and safety of the country.

Surprisingly, however, all is not lost for urban prisoners. There are still undiscovered corners of the UK which offer an escape route for wage slaves seeking a better way of life - or, indeed, that provide an opportunity for existing smallholders to move to a cheaper part of the country and release equity.

I was challenged to find a smallholding anywhere in the UK for under £250,000 - the price of an average bungalow on an in-town estate in my part of the world - and I was pleasantly surprised by the results of my search.

The choice is limited, I have to admit, and in England you'll have to put up with living in the flatlands around The Fens or the bleak wilderness of Northumberland in order to find anything habitable for under £250,000. Wales still offers a few opportunities but, for the real bargains, you need to head much further north.

Let's look first at the opportunities for those who don't want to live too near the Artic Circle.

In Lincolnshire there is a character two-bedroom house with stables and a cattery, plus four acres of land, for just £220,000 - the price of a studio apartment in the not so salubrious parts of London.

It is being offered for sale by Rural and Equestrian Ltd, who have offices in Kings Lynn, Norfolk.

Graham Hain, from Rural and Equestrian estate agents, has many years experience of successfully selling smallholding type properties to a variety of clients, many of whom have moved from an urban environment to the country.

"These are people who have always aspired to live the Good Life' and enjoy a country lifestyle," he said. "Most have done so with little or no need for a mortgage, either downsizing or waiting for the children to flee the nest."

Graham - who has 400 properties with land for sale on his firm's website, www.ruralandequestrian.com - often recommends Smallholder to clients buying their first rural property.

"Smallholder is a valuable source of information for these people in their new environment and helps them to buy livestock and learn how to grow crops," he said.

East Anglian Equestrian Properties also had some bargains on their books that caught my eye but they were gone in a flash. They were a semi-detached cottage at Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, with 2.5 acres, which was advertised for £230,000, and a detached period house with four stables, barns and five paddocks - in all approaching three acres - for £255,000 (ok, slightly above my budget, but I reckoned on a bit of negotiation!).

"Properties with land are available under the £250,000 stamp duty threshold but you have to be quick to find them," said Russ Brown, from East Anglian Equestrian Properties. "We often get offers accepted before we get time to post out the brochures so anyone looking for property in this price range is advised to check our web site (www.eaequestrian.co.uk) daily."

If you're quick, there is still a bargain to be had in Cambridgeshire. Cheffins, who are based at Ely, are advertising a detached farmhouse with extensive farm buildings at a guide price of £200,000. The house needs modernising and has only half-an-acre included in the sale but two plots of land are available separately - 12.37 acres with a guide price of £30,000 and a further 5.84 acres with a guide price of £25,000.

"You shouldn't have too much trouble finding a smallholding with a budget of £250,000 in this area," said Robert Webster, of Cheffins (www.cheffins.co.uk).

East Anglia may have some bargain properties but it is not the most picturesque part of the UK. If you're willing to search a little harder and stretch the budget a little, there are some spectacular properties to be found in beautiful Wales.

Bob Jones-Prytherch and Co have a five-acre smallholding for sale in a secluded location within the Brecon Beacons National Park where the scenery is described as "dramatic."

The asking price for this smallholding is only £249,500 but the cottage is in need of major renovation. "Yes, you can still buy a smallholding for under £250,000 in Wales but they are not easy to find and are likely to need some refurbishment," said Jonathan Morgan, a director of Bob Jones-Prytherch and Co whose properties can be viewed at www.bjpco.com.

To make that £250,000 budget go further you need to head north, but don't believe all that you read. An article in a national newspaper recently featured a 178-acre farm in the Northumberland Country Park for just £250,000. The fully modernised two-bedroom farmhouse was said to still have many original character features and there was planning permission for an extension. It was quickly sold for "substantially more" than the guide price, the agent told me. "We advertised this property at £250,000 to test the market," he said, "and there was considerable interest."

So where are the really genuine bargains? Where can you still buy a country estate for the price of a London flat? The answer is Scotland.

If I can persuade "She who must be obeyed" to move - highly unlikely, I'm afraid - the property I am about to describe will be owned by me before you read this article.

It is a "gloriously situated" 180-acre coastal farm in a stunning location. There is a detached traditional farmhouse with two, possibly three, bedrooms plus a detached two-bedroom chalet.

You won't believe the guide price. It's just £110,000! Yes, there is a bit of a catch. The farm is on the remote but incredibly beautiful island of Papa Stour, part of the Shetlands. There is no shop or pub on Papa Stour but there is a primary school and a church. Civilisation is just a short ferry trip away and you can order your shopping by phone and have it delivered by the Co-op every Wednesday. The ferry runs five days a week and there is also a weekly air service.

The island is unspoilt with a diversity of wild life. The water around Papa Stour has been made a Special Area of Conservation because of the wealth of marine life.

Sea otters play in the fields and on the beaches and common and grey seals have their pups around June/July time. In summer there are frequent sightings of killer whales and porpoises.

The farm, known as Hurdiback, is being offered for sale by Rural Scene and full details, with pictures, can be viewed on their web site (www.ruralscene.co.uk).

Rural Scene, who are based in Wiltshire but are UK-wide smallholding specialists, also have another interesting Scottish property in Aberdeenshire. North Gowanwell Croft has a three bedroom house, a range of outbuildings and 30 acres of land - all for around £190,000.

Edward Oldrey, a Rural Scene director, said: "For purchasers looking for a smallholding in the UK under £250,000 the best area to concentrate on is Scotland, where it is possible to find a good three or four bedroom stone house with outbuildings and land for £150,000-£200,000. The Scottish Islands are cheaper still and similar properties can be found for under £100,000.

"Second choice would be West Wales, where prices are slightly higher but there are still plenty of opportunities under £250,000. Elsewhere the choice is fairly limited, however the Fens in north Cambridgeshire, west Norfolk and south Lincolnshire is a good bet."

Mark McAndrew, a partner in the farm sales department at international property consultants Strutt and Parker (www.struttandparker.com), broadly agrees with this view.

"Houses with land for under £250,000 are going to be few and far between in the south," he said. "You might find something with an agricultural condition attached but even then it will be difficult.

"You will certainly be able to find a smallholding below £250,000 in Scotland but even then it will depend upon where you are looking. There are parts of Scotland where prices are as high as the south of England."

Strutt and Parker, who have offices throughout the UK, currently have an interesting smallholding in Ross-Shire on their books with offers in excess of £249,000 invited.

Mairi Croft is an attractive detached modern house set in an idyllic highland location with stunning views of the surrounding countryside and Loch Long, on the edge of the popular crofting community of Dornie.

There is a spacious garden, 2.3 acres of fenced crofting land and a one-sixth share of common grazing land, all set within an area known for its dramatic and highly scenic natural beauty.

If you prefer to stay south of the border, Strutt and Parker have a farmhouse with traditional outbuildings and 2.29 acres of land - partly woodland - in Northumberland with a guide price of £225,000. Lowick South Steads near Berwick-upon-Tweed is in an idyllic rural position - but there is a catch. The house is in need of restoration, although detailed planning permission exists and this includes converting part of the outbuildings to create a single dwelling.

A smallholder with DIY skills might just be able to buy and renovate the property for under £250,000. But if you want to move straight in to your new low-budget smallholding without any hassle it looks like you need to concentrate your search on The Fens or Scotland.

Don't get crushed in the rush ...