Is regular lease land falling too fast?

The area under regular lease has decreased sharply by 2008% since 33. The surface area that has been issued through liberalized leases has, on the other hand, increased sharply. This is evident from figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The Association of Land Tenants and Own Land Users (BLHB) wants action from the ministry.

In 2008 the area under regular lease was still almost 380.000 hectares. Today that area is more than 251.000 hectares. A decrease of 33% in 9 years. The area under regular lease also fell by 5% last year.

On the other hand, there is an increase in the area of ​​liberalized leases. In particular, the area of ​​land leased for 6 years or less has risen sharply. In 2017, more than 100.000 hectares were leased under short-term lease for the first time. Nearly 104.000 hectares were leased in this way in 2017, compared to just under 19.000 hectares in 2008. This represents an increase of almost 85.000 hectares.

Long-term liberal lease
The liberalized lease for longer than 6 years is also increasing, although this form of lease is a small share in absolute figures. In 2017, the acreage increased by 20,4% compared to 2016. Compared to 2008, the acreage on liberalized leases for more than 6 years has tripled.

(Text continues below chart)The area under regular lease is decreasing sharply.

As a result of the decrease in regular rent, the BLHB has written a letter to Minister Schouten of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. The union wants a revised vision on land use forms. In the letter, the chairman of the BLHB, Piet van der Eijk, states that the new lease rules that were included in the Civil Code in 2007 were aimed at halting the decline in regular rent.

Too little protection
However, this target has not been achieved, as can be seen from the above figures. For the BLHB, the biggest problem is that the tenant in the liberalized form does not receive protection. Van der Eijk: "This loose, almost always short-term lease form causes fluctuations in the size of the farm, makes the farmer dependent and makes his company difficult to finance due to a lack of a solid foundation." De Bond argues that the short liberal lease does not contribute to sustainable land management.

However, Berend Pastoor, chairman of the Private Land Ownership Federation, explains that good agreements can be made about sustainable soil management through liberal leases, something that is much more difficult through regular leases. "Regular lease is just broken, nobody steps in there anymore due to the oppressive conditions." These restrictive conditions are, for example, right of continuation, pre-emption right, lease price test and right to substitution. Owners lose all influence over what happens to their land because of these conditions for a long time, according to the FPG.

Public registration
According to Berend Pastoor, sustainable land use is also important for lessors and they would like to make good agreements about this. Van der Eijk says that these good agreements in the form of a regular lease construction are automatically sustainable in nature: "With regular lease the farmer takes care of the land as if it were his own land, because it is also in his own interest." 

According to both Van der Eijk and Pastoor, the public registration is a bottleneck. The public subscription drives up the lease price excessively. Ultimately, this does no good for soil quality, because farmers have to reduce costs in order to keep it profitable. 

* Source: CBS Agricultural Census

Anne-Jan Doorn

Anne Jan Doorn is an arable expert at Boerenbusiness. He writes about the various arable farming markets and also focuses on the land and energy market.

aj.doorn@boerenbusiness. Nl

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