What's your permission granted success ratio?

[Hawker789]

Just wondering, on average how many no's do you get for every yes when you're out asking for permissions from landowners? For those with a good ratio, it would be interesting to know how your technique differs from others.

[Mini-mustard]

Asked a good 70-80 people, and have only got one yes and a highly likely yes.
Keep at it is what I say!!

[KevinB]

Your post today...."On one of my local permissions today"....What`s your permission granted success ratio?? Just asking.....

[Jay jay]

I think It depends on when you started the hobby
I reckon since all the TV shows started, it's been hard to get permission
I started 12 years ago and it was a lot easier
I think I asked about 10 farms and got 4 permission s and stuck
To them
I could get more but don't see the point in being greedy

[geoman]

Very true. When i first started detecting in the late 70's every door i knocked on yielded a permission rate of 1 in 2 and i soon ended up with more land than i could ever search. However that soon dwindled in the face of the Council for British Archaeology's STOP Campaign of the early 80's and i was soon down to one permission after the lies and disinformation that was spread about metal detecting.

Since then it has been harder and many of the permissions that i have now were gained in the late 80' early 90's thought sadly they are also going one by one as farmers retire and sell up or in some cases pass away. Once the land has been sold to often large investor led agricultural enterprises, i have not been able to gain permission from them.

In the last five years i have tried many doors and gained about a 100 acres of new land after many many no's with reasons ranging from nighthawks and the endless stream of door knockers and email/telephone pestering. Most of this new land was gained by a recomendation from an existing landowner.

It is getting harder after each burst of interest from the "pocket liners" to a new series on detecting and so on - never mind the social media interest

[Batman]

Very true. When i first started detecting in the late 70's every door i knocked on yielded a permission rate of 1 in 2 and i soon ended up with more land than i could ever search. However that soon dwindled in the face of the Council for British Archaeology's STOP Campaign of the early 80's and i was soon down to one permission after the lies and disinformation that was spread about metal detecting.

Since then it has been harder and many of the permissions that i have now were gained in the late 80' early 90's thought sadly they are also going one by one as farmers retire and sell up or in some cases pass away. Once the land has been sold to often large investor led agricultural enterprises, i have not been able to gain permission from them.

In the last five years i have tried many doors and gained about a 100 acres of new land after many many no's with reasons ranging from nighthawks and the endless stream of door knockers and email/telephone pestering. Most of this new land was gained by a recomendation from an existing landowner.

It is getting harder after each burst of interest from the "pocket liners" to a new series on detecting and so on - never mind the social media interest

I agree with this totally, when I started 15 years ago it definitely seemed easier to gain new permissions, nowadays my success rate has begun to dwindle for the reasons above!

[Bradrick]

As Geoman says above; it has become very difficult in the past decade or so. After exhausting all of my friends gardens, my first request was my first permission back in the 1980s... and that was in London! It certainly isn't easy now, and very often a case of 'who you know'.
In my area now, I would say that it would be impossible to find a landowner who hasn't already been asked.

[theoriginalfatcat]

My success rate is high because I nearly always ask people who I know well, or knew my father/family. That’s my secret- I suppose it’s shameless networking really but as in all walks of life, you need to play to your strengths.

[Chriskend]

I think my job in the agricultural industry opens doors as I have a 100% success rate, sounds a bit cheesy but I’ve stopped asking because we don’t have time to get round the land we have. Sounds bad but I even had a farmer complain because we haven’t been for over a year. I think the odds depend on what job you do and where you live unfortunately.

[Red Fred]

I clearly remember the business lecturer at Ag College in 1985 commenting that by the time we retired, ie now, there would be fewer than half the farms still in existence and I would say he was about right or slightly optimistic. Even our small farm consisted of 3 even smaller ones in the 1970s/80s but all the old farmers retired or gave up through economies of scale. I will only go on for another 3 or 4 years and then my rented land will be taken back in hand by the estate next door and put into one huge rewilding type scheme which has already swallowed the other tenants.
There has also been a shift in attitude whereby the estate has become much more businesslike with everything being monetised if the agents see a demand. In 1980, the old fashioned landowner was really interested and supportive of my detecting and her Ladyship gave me my 1980 copy of Spinks with a kind message in the front. Now, they come down on any tenant who steps outside of their agreement by allowing any outsiders or non-ag activities on the place, so the model aeroplane club were evicted from the neighbour's farm after a stern warning, then they reappeared on the estate's own land but at a cost of £5000 pa instead of the previous bottle of scotch and a few quid for Christmas.
The upshot for me is that I no longer take any pleasure from detecting on the estate as I never know where I stand and I no longer feel interested. Instead, I only search our own 40 acres and my better half's 7 acres of pony paddocks, but this is still quite enough for me and I never get an urge to look elsewhere. But if the number of farmers has halved and the number of detectorists has doubled, it is obvious something has to give.

[liamnolan]

As already said, the personal face to face contact works best. Postal requests to addresses of farmers reveal many now sold off to bigger companies and hard to know who actually owns what.
Down in Norfolk I had more land than I could use, now back in Lincolnshire its "Groundhog Day" again, but thats part of the detecting reality.
I agree that it was much easier in the past. Good luck to all, Liam

[Bradrick]

I clearly remember the business lecturer at Ag College in 1985 commenting that by the time we retired, ie now, there would be fewer than half the farms still in existence and I would say he was about right or slightly optimistic. Even our small farm consisted of 3 even smaller ones in the 1970s/80s but all the old farmers retired or gave up through economies of scale. I will only go on for another 3 or 4 years and then my rented land will be taken back in hand by the estate next door and put into one huge rewilding type scheme which has already swallowed the other tenants.
There has also been a shift in attitude whereby the estate has become much more businesslike with everything being monetised if the agents see a demand. In 1980, the old fashioned landowner was really interested and supportive of my detecting and her Ladyship gave me my 1980 copy of Spinks with a kind message in the front. Now, they come down on any tenant who steps outside of their agreement by allowing any outsiders or non-ag activities on the place, so the model aeroplane club were evicted from the neighbour's farm after a stern warning, then they reappeared on the estate's own land but at a cost of £5000 pa instead of the previous bottle of scotch and a few quid for Christmas.
The upshot for me is that I no longer take any pleasure from detecting on the estate as I never know where I stand and I no longer feel interested. Instead, I only search our own 40 acres and my better half's 7 acres of pony paddocks, but this is still quite enough for me and I never get an urge to look elsewhere. But if the number of farmers has halved and the number of detectorists has doubled, it is obvious something has to give.

All excellent points Fred

[f8met]

Asking , 3 out of 3 but only detect 2 of them now. And I have been recommended by my landowners on to another 3 permissions.

[Swiss Rolly]

Don't give up asking.

My belief is there is about 17 to 18 million acres of farmland in the UK. Once you take off all the no's, if' and but's, that still does leave a lot of land.

SR

[Hawker789]

Your post today...."On one of my local permissions today"....What`s your permission granted success ratio?? Just asking.....

By one I meant my only one. Even then we knew the landowners prior to taking up detecting. I've asked a good dozen or so local farms without success.