‘My plot of woodland is worth every penny’

More Britons are snapping up their own slice of wilderness to get back to nature, but forests can also be an investment with tax benefits, writes Ruth Bloomfield d lan od wo s of les t or plo es a of acr st 12 co g ge rin era asu Av me

Gary Salmons has been thinking about his retirement plan for many years. Not pension pots and annuities and all the dull-but-sensible stuff – but about buying himself a slice of wilderness to call his own.

Three years ago Mr Salmons, now 59, began hunting for land. And in December last year he became the proud owner of the six-acre Ransoms Wood, which is set just east of the Shropshire Hills.

Since then Mr Salmons and his wife, Pafun, 43, have spent at least one long weekend a month camping in the wood with their Jack Russell terrier, Ruby, getting to know its undulations, trees and tracks, building campfires each evening, and making a point of turning off their mobile phones.

“I made the decision a long time ago that I would semi- retire and find something different to do with my life,” Mr Salmons says. “I had always thought about buying a bit of land just to chill out in and enjoy.”

In his working life Mr Salmons is a taxi driver in Cambridge, while Ms Salmons works at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Their home is a houseboat, and Mr Salmons had money set aside from the sale of a property some years ago to buy the wood, which he purchased for just under its £85,000 asking price.

Their trip to Ransoms Wood takes about three hours – Mr Salmons tried and failed to find something that appealed closer to home – and he rel

Price tag

Gary Salmons paid just under this amount for a six-acre plot near the Shropshire Hills

Between 2017 and 2020 more than this number of woodland plots were sold in Britain, according to Savills ishes its isolation, peace and the chance to get some fresh air and exercise. “It is all part of winding down and enjoying the latter part of my life,” he says.

While Mr Salmons’ woodland venture was the realisation of a long-held dream, a recent report on “amenity woodland” – the official name for the sale of small tracts of forest – suggests demand has blossomed since the pandemic. A renewed interest in the great outdoors, plus mounting scientific evidence that spending time in nature can improve your mental health, has inspired buyers to invest in a private escape.

Between 2017 and 2020 more than 1,550 woodland plots have been sold, according to Savills, the estate agent.

Buyers spent an average £45,000 on plots measuring 12 acres or less. Larger sites, measuring between 37 and 49 acres, sold for an average of £145,000.

As with bricks and mortar, woodland prices vary by region with Scotland offering the best value, and the east and South East of England the most expensive options.

Ruth Feltham and her husband, James, are south- east area managers of Woodlands.co.uk, a specialist amenity forest estate agent, and have been selling small tranches of ancient forest for about a decade.

Ms Feltham says prices depend on a nuanced pattern of factors beyond location: how easy access to the plot is, whether there are any roads or public footpaths, features such as ponds and streams (which come at a premium), and the type of trees that grow there. She estimates that in her patch, woodland sells for between £ 16,000 and £18,000 an acre.

Buyers tend to be looking for the best of both worlds. “They have got a pot of money to invest, and they want to spend it on something they can enjoy,” she says.

“A lot of our buyers are looking at this as a long-term investment with opportunities for the whole family to enjoy. Yes, they could buy a holiday home in France, but if you have a woodland that is a half-hour drive away you can go there every weekend.”

In the West Country, Chris Anderson, of Carter Jonas, a specialist consultancy, sells half a dozen woodland plots a year. Investors tend to be locals buying in cash, and often simply want to commune with nature.

“I don’t think anyone does it to make money in the classic investment sense, but some have a bit of a commercial view – a dog training compound, forest schools, that sort of thing,” he says.

“Others do it so that community groups like cub scouts have somewhere to go. Some just want to protect the countryside, and trees are very emotive.”

But owning a woodland isn’t all fun and games. There are rules to follow.

Commercial activities, such as glamping sites, are likely to be prohibited but private camping is fine. It is usually also possible to build a small shed or shelter to store tools and equipment. Woodlands need managing, and owners might have to deal with grey squirrels, which have a habit of stripping bark off young trees, and deer, which can damage even established woodland.

Some owners let their woodlands run wild, while others devise elaborate management plans. “We have had people reintroduce dormice, and species of bird,” says Ms Feltham.

Luckily there is plenty of advice out there for novice woodsmen and women. The Small Woodland Owners Group, Royal Forestry Society and the Forestry Commission all offer advice and training on forest management.

From an investment point of view, the value of forest plots should increase in the medium to long term. Mr Anderson estimates that five or 10 years ago woodland in the West Country sold for about £ 5,000 to £ 6,000 an acre, compared with £10,000-plus an acre today.

Ms Feltham says another financial benefit is that forest land is, usually, at least partially exempt from inheritance tax. This depends on many factors – the timber value of the property, how long it has been owned, or if it is of outstanding landscape or conservation value, or a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Specialist advice will be necessary before making a purchase.

Back in Shropshire, Mr Salmons is not worried about the future value of his woodland, and is happy simply getting to know his land.

He has no plans to make any money out of it – although being able to bring home van loads of logs to feed the multi-fuel stove on his houseboat is handy.

To him, the worth of his slice of wilderness is measured not in pounds and pence, but in watching the spring bluebells bloom, collecting wild garlic and spotting deer roaming past.

“It makes me very, very happy.”