Mature forestry purchase

hometruths

Toying with the idea of buying a property that has a fair chunk of forestry attached, whole mix of species planted 25 years ago, and trying to assess the pros and cons.

I guess the fact that relatively soon I could realise some income from the timber is attractive. When did forestry grants begin? i.e if the forest is clearfelled am I obliged to replant all of it? If so am I obliged to replant same, or can I plant something with a shorter return eg willow or christmas trees?

Any old hands got a view on the pros and cons of buying mature forestry, what makes a forest attractive/unattractive etc?

fergus1001

schmittel wrote:

I guess the fact that relatively soon I could realise some income from the timber is attractive. When did forestry grants begin? i.e if the forest is clearfelled am I obliged to replant all of it? If so am I obliged to replant same, or can I plant something with a shorter return eg willow or christmas trees?

schmittel wrote:

Any old hands got a view on the pros and cons of buying mature forestry, what makes a forest attractive/unattractive etc?

Depends on your objective really what species is in the forest, really I would engage a forester to survey the forest and give you a report on what state the forest is in and it's earning potential

Has it been roaded and thinned ??

hometruths

fergus1001 wrote: »

Depends on your objective really what species is in the forest, really I would engage a forester to survey the forest and give you a report on what state the forest is in and it's earning potential

Has it been roaded and thinned ??

Yes, I think it has been quite well managed. Don't have all the details yet, expecting more thorough info in the next few days.

Species mixture of larch, fir, oak, ash and pine. Not sure in what distribution.

Objective is medium to long term income / return on capital.

Definitely would engage forester if I progress the idea, at this stage just trying to get as much general info as possible, to try and evaluate the idea before incurring any costs.

fergus1001

schmittel wrote:

if the forest is clearfelled am I obliged to replant all of it? If so am I obliged to replant same, or can I plant something with a shorter return eg willow or christmas trees?

Under the 1922 forestry act you are obliged to replant the land and it would be attached as a condition to any clearfell licence.

If you pm me when you get maps ect I could do a desktop study of the plantation and let you know what roughly the time frame on receiving significant income from the forest is

hometruths

fergus1001 wrote: »

Under the 1922 forestry act you are obliged to replant the land and it would be attached as a condition to any clearfell licence.

If you pm me when you get maps ect I could do a desktop study of the plantation and let you know what roughly the time frame on receiving significant income from the forest is

thank you that is very helpful and much appreciated.

hometruths

After some toing and froing with estate agent and getting some fairly vague responses, not convinced this particular forest has been well managed.

But the desktop research I've done in relation to this has piqued my interest in forestry as an investment and am looking at the pros and cons of buying land to plant.

I've seen on AIBs website they have forestry investment loans, are there any other banks favourable to loans for forestry investment?

fergus1001

schmittel wrote:

I've seen on AIBs website they have forestry investment loans, are there any other banks favourable to loans for forestry investment?

All banks will concider it if you come forward with a solid proposal as to how you will make money from the forest so you would defiantly need a forester to assess the forest/land to verify it's growth potential , I would advise you to contact a forest company that specialises in forestry investment and have the conversation about the ups and downs of investing in forestry most of them will go over it with you no problem

I'll pm you a few names if you want to pursue it further ?

hometruths

fergus1001 wrote: »

All banks will concider it if you come forward with a solid proposal as to how you will make money from the forest so you would defiantly need a forester to assess the forest/land to verify it's growth potential , I would advise you to contact a forest company that specialises in forestry investment and have the conversation about the ups and downs of investing in forestry most of them will go over it with you no problem

I'll pm you a few names if you want to pursue it further ?

Yes please a PM much appreciated. Thanks.