Getting Permission to Metal Detect from a Landowner

This article is about how to get permission from a landowner before metal detecting on his property.

Many metal detecting enthusiasts have been told that they need to get a landowner’s permission before detecting on private property. This is true for most cases, but what if you don’t know who the landowner is or where their property lines are? It may be difficult to detect without knowing anything about the property! In this article, we will share some tips and tricks for locating a landowner and getting permission.

For starters, it is important to know that in most cases you need permission from the landowner or owners of a property. The old adage “finders keepers” does not apply when it comes to detecting private property! Understandably, many people don’t want random strangers coming onto their properties and detecting there without first getting permission.

If you are planning on metal detecting at an unknown location, your best bet would be finding out who owns the area before going any further with your plans. In some cases, this may seem impossible but sometimes public records offices might have information about who exactly owns what parcels of land and whether it is privately held. In addition, you can always ask around at the local council, library or post office for information about crown land in this area. It’s much easier to start with Crown land! Read our article here.

Privately owned land

When you know that the piece of land is privately owned, then the next thing you need to figure out is who actually owns it (the person whose name appears on the deed). If possible, speak directly with him or her because you’ll have a better idea and then you don’t want to get into trouble. If you are door knocking then it could be a parent or grandparent living there.

The best way of knowing whether the landowner is willing to give you permission is if he or she knows that you’re coming and they say, “Yes.” If not, then it’s better for them not to know your plans before-hand–you can always ask them when you arrive on their property by saying something like: “Hi! I was just wondering if I could have a quick word with you about metal detecting?” You’ll be able to tell from the person’s reaction what kind of answer (or non-answer) you’re going to get.

Brokering a deal

You need to broker a deal about how to split any finds and who gets what if you make a discovery. If you’re lucky enough to find a valuable coin or other items, your decision will be made for you on the spot. You can always offer a reasonable amount as compensation in advance-perhaps fifty percent–but there are much better ways of establishing interest than by simply asking for something from people who have no idea what your intent will be once you find something valuable. Sometimes people are interested in selling their own finds back to an organization that buys them from metal detectorists and splitting the profits.

The more well-informed approach would be to talk with them at length before requesting anything even remotely related to treasure hunting. This way, it makes clear that you’re an honest person looking only for information rather than buried riches.

In most cases, they’ll want some part of the profit. The idea is that finding a treasure on private property establishes it as theirs as much as yours, even though legally speaking this isn’t always true because whoever owns the land also has rights over what happens there.

It is also likely that you could help them locate some property which is lost, such as a ring or other family heirloom.

Good luck in your search!