One of the key differences when you relocate to the country is that you’ll become closer to the workings of your property, whether you like it or not. There are, of course, degrees of rural living, just as there are degrees of involvement in owning an urban property. If you are currently a flat owner, you may be hit by an annual maintenance charge but not get too involved in the ins and outs of how your plumbing works or whether the roof leaks. It’s less than likely that you will be too concerned with what happens to your sewage, unless you happen to get a blockage within your own property. Otherwise, you lift the phone and gain the benefits of paying your charges, as well as water and sewerage rates. In winter, if the pavements are icy, you expect the council to do something about it.

This chapter will review some of the details of being a rural property owner and highlight some of the key considerations of which you must be clearly aware.

Getting in touch with the finer detail

Your planned relocation might be from town to village, in which case much of this infrastructure will still be in place, albeit in a more minimalist way. If you’re moving from flat to detached house, you will be almost bound to become more involved in maintaining the fabric of the property. You’ll get into the way of looking at the roof periodically, for example, to check there are no slipped or fallen tiles or slates. As one-time owners of what was billed “the largest thatched manor house in Wiltshire”, we would voice caution if your dream is to take on an old thatched property, especially if downshifting will limit your ongoing income. A thatched roof is picturesque but creates a regular drain on resources, due to the need for annual maintenance or a total re-thatch every 20 years or so.

If your relocation is to a single, isolated property, there are added points to note. Where we live at the moment, our nearest neighbours are almost a mile away. We like this, but some people would be fazed by the isolation. Guests to our self-catering cottages tend to love the silence, although some acknowledge that it would be too much for permanent living. Most, like us, see it as a real benefit. This is also true regarding the level of darkness. Street lighting in small villages, especially if positioned away from trunk roads, is very restricted. With isolated properties, lighting is present only if you provide it. A wide range of automatic floodlights with ‘magic eye’ PIR sensors is available, allowing lighting which is activated by movement. Once again, you will have to service them when the lamps fail or the sensor does not respond correctly. Progressively, if you move into more isolated living, there are fewer ‘theys’ to respond to your problems (as in ‘what are they going to do about it?’). In many situations, you are the sole ‘they’.

Doing your research

It bears repeating that, now you’re thinking seriously about relocating – and have probably shortlisted a few possible areas and degrees of isolation – you should go and stay a night in these areas at different times of the year. Consider aspects such as isolation, darkness, reduced services, journey time to reach specialist shops, ability to park in the tourist season – you must be conscious of as many of the pros and cons as possible. Keep an open mind and think objectively – you really are moving towards making a life-changing decision. For financial and other reasons, you probably won’t be able to turn back the clock if you regret your move in a year or two, so now’s the time to check that your preferred relocation plans stand up to scrutiny. Mind you, it’s not whether you relocate, it’s just making sure you choose the best location for you.

Some thoughts on keeping warm

In remote areas, your central heating is likely to use either tankered oil or gas. In winter, cold spells can call heavily on fuel use, requiring regular monitoring of tank levels. This is surprisingly easy to forget if you’ve been used to mains gas supplies for years. Discovering that your fuel tank level is dangerously low when the weather is bad and roads are dodgy is not a good idea. You can guarantee that you are not alone in needing this last-minute fuel delivery, raising stress levels as you try to guess whether the tanker will arrive before the tank runs dry. Taking out an automatic top-up contract is the solution here. You may sometimes find yourself having to pay for fuel when money is tight and you would probably have allowed the levels to reduce, given the choice. However, it does mean that you should always have fuel to last over a longer cold snap when road access for tanker lorries may be poor. I also have it on good authority from several drivers that householders with these top-up contracts get preferential treatment in an emergency, which certainly brings added peace of mind.

There is currently some interest in heating systems fuelled by sustainable sources such as wood chippings (also known as ‘biomass’). Although this perhaps lends itself to larger community projects, there certainly is potential for domestic heating using this type of system. As the number of suppliers of different grades of wood-chip product increases, this is a possibility that you should consider if you are going for a major redesign of your heating system or planning a new-build. Wind, water, solar and photo-electric power are all potential sources, depending on your location and the degree to which you wish to (or have to) be self-sufficient. Your Local Enterprise Company will probably have a special department supporting these initiatives. Talk to them about the possibilities – there might even be grants available to help you install a system if your overall plans involve new business and employment.

You may be lucky enough to have an open fire or stove in your chosen property. If you do, ensure that it works properly as there is nothing quite like sitting in front of a real fire during those winter evenings. All our cottages have either an open fire or multi-fuel stove and this is definitely one of the magnets which draws visitors. We’ve had guests lighting the fire in the middle of summer, just to have the effect of a living fire in the grate. Although we now have our own woodland and timber source, it’s not normally as easy to access free timber in the country as urban dwellers imagine. So, running even log fires can involve expense or a fair degree of effort in converting the tree in the wood to the split log on the hearth. If you live in a Forestry Commission area where timber-felling operations are in progress, you can buy a licence for a fairly nominal amount which allows you to scavenge fallen timber (but not use a chainsaw on site unless you are impressively qualified). Mixing logs and coal, which you can still use in many rural areas not within smokeless zones, gives the best heart to your open fire or multi-fuel stove. Enjoy!

The ‘night soil’ question

Which brings us less than neatly on to septic tanks. When we moved from London to Wiltshire, the house particulars stated that the property was on mains water and sewerage. After living there a few weeks, I was puzzled by the presence of a number of manhole covers on the rear lawn. Checking with a neighbour, I discovered that we did in fact have our own septic tank system, and a traditional brick-built one into the bargain. Having little idea how these worked, my initial worries were allayed by a visit from a wonderful guy who ran the local business emptying septic tanks. Chain smoking (for understandable reasons), he talked me through the complete operation, opening manholes and enthusing about the quality of the system and how well it was working. Rest easy, they really are normally very little problem and need emptying only about every three years. I remember a visit to the local retired major one morning which coincided with his septic tank overflowing in his back courtyard – but then, he had forgotten all about it and hadn’t had it emptied in the 21 years he’d lived there!

Modern septic tanks come ready made and look very much like a giant onion with the stalk left on. These are buried into the ground with the manhole cover at the top of the neck (stalk). They operate using a gradual filtered purification process, either directly by membrane or through a sequence of tanks in bigger systems. Thus the system progressively releases the cleared liquids, retaining the solids – I’ll leave the rest to your imagination! If working properly, they don’t smell and the only time you’ll really be aware of their existence is the day they’re emptied (which takes about an hour). Visit distant friends that day!

The joys of having no water rates

In our present home, we have not only our own septic tank system but also a private water supply. This is probably the side of our building infrastructure which gives me most concern, although this is partly due to the fact that I feel responsible for providing hot baths and drinking water not only for ourselves but for our paying guests in the cottages, supplied by the same supply tanks. Our tanks are fed by streams (in some areas, water supplies are pumped (or rise naturally) from underground aquifers). Potential problem times are in the height of summer, when the sources are more likely to dry up, and in the depths of winter, when water supplies and pipes can freeze.

Although low key, there is ongoing maintenance such as keeping the filters and pipes clear, but this is normally more than compensated for by the smug pleasure of not having to pay water rates. The inclusion of an ultra-violet disinfector which zaps any bacteria which may pass through the pipework gives peace of mind that your water quality is good, as well as lacking the chemical additives which mains supply water often has. In areas where many homes are fed by private water supplies, you will find that there is a local contractor who installs the pipework and tanks and who will come to your aid if you have problems or need the system explained. Find out who he is when you settle in rather than leaving it until the middle of winter, when you can’t locate your stopcock (or ‘toby’ as it is referred to in some areas).

Overall, having your own system is quite interesting (if you like pottering with things and DIY) and, over our years as house owners, we’ve had more problems caused by water board maintenance when we lived in properties on mains systems than currently with our private supply.

The power and the glory

Another urban image of country living is that of regular power cuts and enforced living by candle light. This is a myth, in our experience. Although you should certainly be ready for power failures by having torches and a camping gas stove, you shouldn’t need to use them very often. If there are major storms, power failure caused by transmission lines coming down can affect electrical supplies anywhere, in towns as well as rural communities, and our experiences of local response to sorting out problems in various locations in both Scotland and England have been impressively and consistently good.

So, the general transmission of power to your property, unless you’re really remote, can be taken as read. In fact, it’s only when you do have a power cut that you realize both the extent to which you take electricity for granted and the degree of dependence you have on it. Many areas of work, such as writing, architecture, practical art and handicrafts, rely on electricity due to our increasing dependence on computers or mechanical tools. If the power does fail, you can no longer carry on your profession – which is a wonderful excuse to get the fire going, light a candle or two, brew up on the camping stove and have a fine evening dozing by the fireside. It is almost a disappointment when the lights come back on again!

If you choose to live in a really remote area, you may have to rely on a generator. As well as the ongoing background noise, there is the mechanical responsibility of keeping it running, which is not for the faint hearted. If you are thinking of running a business which involves high-wattage equipment, you must ensure that your generators are more than adequate for the job. Running power lines to the nearest point in the grid system can be an expensive option – if you are considering a property which is not on mains power, review these various implications carefully. As an example, we knew a lady who ran a small cafeteria in a remote area of the west coast. The property had its own private water supply. Because it provided teas and coffees to the general public, the council health department insisted that the water supply required disinfection. This involved an electrically powered UV tube, operating 24 hours a day, to ensure that all water entering the property was free of bacteria. This in turn involved the generator running constantly – both expensive and noisy. The small cafeteria is now closed and you can’t buy a cup of coffee within a 25-mile radius.

Getting to know your consumer unit

Another tip on the electricity front is to get to know your system, especially the fuse box. This is equally true wherever you live – you need to know what to do before you first experience being plunged into darkness. Modern fuse boxes have MCBs (miniature circuit breakers) rather than fuses. These are little switches which trip off rather than blow a fuse wire when an appliance or light bulb fuses so can be quickly switched back on once the problem has been identified. MCBs tend to be more sensitive than the old fuses, so you can find the system trips out even if a single light bulb blows, which can be a nuisance at times. If the property you buy still has an old-style fuse box, it is surprisingly easy to get this upgraded to a modern consumer unit with MCBs, without necessarily involving any rewiring.

An additional safety device which will be included in your new consumer unit is called an earth trip or RCD. This will switch out the related power ring circuit if it contains a faulty appliance which is leaking current to earth. Otherwise, this could give you an electric shock if you touch it, so the RCD is a valuable additional safety device.

If your electrical system is something of a mystery to you, get an electrician to check it over and explain its workings and suggest any upgrades which may be a benefit.

Building up the contacts

As we said earlier, it is important that you develop a portfolio of tradesmen that you can call out in an emergency or to do a little job in your foreseeable future. The more remote you are from the operational centres, the harder it will be for you to get these tradesmen to visit, especially to give you estimates. They’re all very busy; in fact, any readers in the building trade who fancy a bit of a downshift to the more relaxed country way of doing things are guaranteed to be able to get enough work, if you can fit in with the local ways!

Depending on your range of skills and abilities, you will be able to sort out your particular tradesmen priorities. Plumbing is my key blind spot, so we tend to use one plumber for all our development work (and grit our teeth and pay his transport charges with a smile) so that we can expect a more or less instant response from him when that emergency finally comes. If you can find a general builder who can turn his hand to a range of skills, from carpentry to bricklaying, treat him with kid gloves – he is indeed a treasure. Above all, bearing in mind that it will be difficult to get instant emergency response (often in stormy or freezing weather when many people experience emergencies at the same time), get into the habit of checking over your property and catching problems early. Replacing a cracked toilet cistern now, for example, will prevent the flooded bathroom and the collapsed ceiling below during that sudden February frost.

Getting in and keeping out

Owning a country property can also mean that you have access drives and boundary fencing to consider. Tarmacadam is surprisingly expensive – and beware the knock on the door from some guy with an old lorry who just happens to have half a load of tarmac left and has noticed that your drive has potholes. Whoever you use, always get a quote for the complete job (some contractors will try to quote an open-ended cost per square metre, which seems quite reasonable until you discover how many square metres of tarmac they have laid) and watch them doing the job to check on the uniformity of the thickness. Check for any cracks at the edges after rolling – water getting in these and then freezing can break up your nice new drive in record time.

You will probably find there is less stress involved in land ownership in the country. Whereas urban neighbours have on occasion literally fought to the death over disputed ownership of tiny strips of land, rural lines of demarcation are usually more flexible. When discussing your purchase with your solicitor, check carefully on the property deeds to establish exactly the land which is included. You may even find that some of this is outside your boundary fence, a legacy from when contractors came to replace old fences and took a new (and easier) line while sinking the posts. In their eyes, leaving the old tumble-down fence means that your boundary line is still intact, even though they have created a ‘no-man’s land’ area between old and new. If this situation ever occurs for you, just remember: it’s your land and you’re paying for the fencing bill, so stick to your guns if you think it’s important, however rocky the area looks and however difficult it might be for them to dig post holes.

The enclosure act

As with tarmac, fencing is quite expensive when you get a full quote for the job. Insist on this as fencers too will quote by the metre length – it’s only when you discover the total length and the extras for gates, additional strainer posts and so on that the final amount hits you. However, when you have spent time periodically patching rusted and rotten netting and supporting worn fence posts, there’s something rather wonderful about getting a brand new length of fencing installed.

Still on the fencing front, watch out for the additional costs sometimes involved if you are considering the purchase of a property which is part of a farm or estate. In these situations, you may find that part of the agreement is that you (the purchaser) are liable for fencing off the designated area you are purchasing. In the excitement of completing on your dream property, you may accept this without appreciating how much it will cost. Get a quote so that you are at least aware of the extra expense which will become due just at the point when you are recovering from all the other outlays involved in property purchase.

Some rural properties may come with several acres of land, which is a wonderful bonus, but once again it does involve ownership responsibilities. Spending regular time and effort in cutting grass and maintaining borders in a large garden may be your lifelong ambition – or it may increasingly become a millstone round your neck as you struggle to keep up with the weeds. Larger properties may have fields or paddocks which require less effort (but more fence maintenance) and if you have mature trees near public access roads, you have to keep an eye on their soundness in case any blow down in a storm. If the council turns out to remove one of your trees which has blown down over the road, you’ll be hit with a hefty bill for the service. If you have streams on your property, again you have to keep an eye on the water courses to ensure that they don’t block and flood property belonging to others.

But don’t be put off by all these areas of responsibility – they’re not doom and gloom, it’s just that you should be aware that they come with the ownership. We currently own a property with 36 acres of garden, fields, woodland and loch frontage and we truly consider it a great honour being guardians of this landscape.

Reaching a happy understanding

In summary, what we have been trying to underline here is the range of responsibilities involved in owning a rural property, especially one with land attached. If you get to know the ins and outs of how your building and its services function, and are aware of the various people and services which are available to support you in maintaining operations, you can keep on top of the job. Not only will regular checking and minor maintenance keep the property functioning correctly, you will be ready for the minor or major problems when they do occur. As the old postman used to say to me periodically, a slate on the roof’s worth twenty pence, but if it’s fallen on the ground, it costs twenty pounds!

Owning a rural property, especially one with some land to call your own, is a pleasure and indeed an honour. Keeping a watchful and understanding eye on it will make sure that it remains so.