Buying lands in the UK

Zanderman

maxsteam said:

There are various schemes whereby you can invest indirectly in land that might be used for buildings or cemeteries or something similar. These are mostly scams. I suggest that you investigate some of the larger, established property based investment trusts (such as British Land).

Yes, it is possible to buy a field but, without sufficient knowledge, you might pay too much. You might also have problems if, for example, gypsies move onto the field.

An odd example to single out, but yes there can be all sorts of problems with land, even if it's a field  (which wouldn't, unless it's developable, be an investment). 
More everyday definite problems for a 'field' for instance are fencing, grazing, hedging, cropping etc - every field is used for something, which will mean spend.  Even if it's left to get overgrown there will be eventual liabilities. 

Nebulous2

There are a lot of strange goings on with land, mainly aimed at those with a lack of knowledge. From selling tiny patches of land and telling you that it allows you to use a title to selling you development land where it is extremely unlikely that development will ever be permitted. 

I've also seen a company which buys blocks of woodland, splits it up into smaller parcels, gives each of them a name and sells them off separately. I kind of see a point in that - there is an attraction to owning your own 'wood' but I doubt if the pricing makes sense. I don't see why you cannot buy the bigger plot and name it yourself "Neb's woody folly." 

Ciprico

We bought a 10 acre field behind our house, primarily to stop anyone else buying it and doing anything "anti social" on it. As above, it did cost about £10k an acre (so a £20k field would be pretty small). We have rented out to camping groups and horse owners, but overall it's upkeep has cost more than what it has generated. It wasn't bought as an investment, and a field, unlike a most investments can be a pleasant and interesting thing to own. 
Having said that I am pretty sure we could get more than we paid for it, land is in demand the South East and I receive regular letters from developement speculators asking to buy it. 
Ultimately, attaching a field to one's house instantly makes the property an "equestrian property", even if you have no stables etc, which adds a premium to the land and house...

Apodemus

Ciprico, there is, of course, huge amenity value to buying land adjacent to one's house and it's clearly also true that a decent-sized field can be put to many productive, economic uses.  However, I'm not sure that the OP was looking to start any active business associated with the land - if they were, then much of what's been said earlier in this thread is probably out of line.