jetsam1

On Monday my wife and Father-in-Law are going to look at a tanya up for sale near the 3 ha my wife already owns, we are also hoping we can get a business loan and then various grants to get a business up and running. This is the biggest thing I have ever been involved in...... From the ppictures the big advantage is that nothing needs doing to the buildings and it has lovely acacia trees for the bees!

We are planning bees as the primary business at least to start with but definatly one or two other things too. Hard to be specific as buyers won;t tell us what they pay so it gets hard to do a business plan! But it does seem the most sensible thing to do as we are very far away from retirement and our kids need somewhere nice to grow up and we won't be that far from Budapest. My wifes' other plot of land is also available but I don't want to have the bees there as the risk of theft or damage is too much (though I'm sure they would be ok really). Don't want to be moving the hives around much if at all.

We have back ups, my wifes' house in Budapest and my house in the UK are both there as final panicky last resorts should everything go terribly, terribly wrong!

The other part of the plan is that I have decided that I really need to get qualified in agriculture in an effort to future-proof myself and so that I can learn how to do things and maybe actually get a decent job as well. I already have undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications and just like in the UK can;t find anything decent or that doesn't involve a call centre. I refuse to be a mushroom picker 6 days a week for the next 35 years too!

Hungary doesn't want geologists it seems!

So for better or worse I am looking at the University of Szeged who have a Bsc in Agricultural Engineering (taught in English) which pretty much looks exactly tailored for our future plans. It would mean that under current laws I can do agricultural business in my own name and who knows how the rules for Ostermelo may change in the future. A Hungarian qualification may also help if the UK leaves the EU and if I decide in 3-4 years time to apply for dual nationality. I would be surprised if I couldn't get a place and undergrad shouldn't be so intensive that I couldn't do other work too with the tanya. Just waiting for a reply to my enquiry email.

Big changes. But hopefully successful ones. We have been thinking about this most of the last year. If we don't get this tanya we can always develop my wifes' land but that is a lot more work and a lot needs doing aside from just putting up a building.

jetsam1

Oh well, back to the drawing board. Nothing can be simple eh?!

Sometimes I do get fed up.

TerryandBrigi

take it not good news eh ?

jetsam1

Well, what we thought we could go and get we can't. Banks won;t lend due to the local planning office not having done some paperwork we asked them to do a year ago so the land we live on is still agricultural land. We can't do the bees around Budapest at the level required which was why we wanted to sort out my wife's tanya surrounded by acacia trees. Too much risk of vandalism and we'd sepnd so much money on moving them about and going backwards and forwards it starts to make it economically unviable except as a little sideline. I will happily be proved wrrong about this.

I have to quit this job for health reasons (too much physical work and it's affecting my recovery from the operation, plus they are breaking all work time rules) and it looks unlikely that another will be forthcoming that is professional enough to fund the long term plans. I have two geoscience degrees that nobody wants it seems...........

I still have too much youthful enthusiasm and should learn that life is unfair and everyone is against you........

fidobsa

So, what about the university, can you still do that part of the plan?

jetsam1

Not without funding. That's the problem. When we are at the Tanya we can develop the business and if it goes well we can see. Unfortunately it's that just getting started that is proving the problem! My wife is going to apply for EU grants and anything else we can get but the first few years will be a bit tight as we have found the old cottage needs demolishing and the costs for installing power is starting to look a little scary........ W were looking to get a small business loan to start the planning process and power etc but that seems to be an impossibility. It certainly looks like you have to already have a good lump of capital available to get anywhere. So essentially be rich already.

A few years of building up the bees and another crop and we can see. It's just frustrating as it is so hard to get anything done here. Oh and my ample UK income counts for nothing apparently. Which is good to know...... I rent out the house in the UK but now I am considering whether it's better to sell so as to get the funds to get set up properly over here. Will still be left with a sizeable sum but am unsure of my exact CGT status.

I'm in the UK sometime in the next few months so am going to get a couple of valuations ostensibly for insurance. Really wouldn;t like to mess about my tenants though. Have gotten fed up with the house in Ecser too, so we are going to get valuations regardless. Not enough has happened to make me confident that things are going to improve with it.

If I'd have known then what I know now.....

I would prefer to be self employed but when I have left this job I can start looking seriously for something. Just no time at the moment as we work 6 days a week and never know when we are finishing. I may staill report the company to the authorities.