Revision of the lease system: what next?

The mediator in the lease file, Sicko Heldoorn, appointed by State Secretary Van Dam, has issued his advice. In short, he sees "no possibility to increase support among parties on the basis of Spelderholt's "final agreement".

Only after the summer will a response to Mr Heldoorn's findings and a vision for the follow-up be sent to the House of Representatives by the minister in office at that time. In response to questions from the SP and earlier from the BLHB about the price development of regular and liberalized leases, the State Secretary informed the House of Representatives that he did not want to prejudge a revision of the lease system. He waited for the mediator's advice before making a decision. In view of this link between the lease system and the lease price, there is every reason to finally come to a solution.

What was that again?
After the evaluation by Professor Bruil, tenants and lessees under the leadership of the initiators Snijders, Valk and Verbakel-Van Bommel already concluded a partial agreement in 2014. A partial agreement because the parties did not agree on the transitional law. Afterwards, the lessees indicated that they also did not agree on the proposed price discount for flexible leases. In September 2015, the initiators presented Spelderholt 2 with a corrective assessment instead of a price discount for flexible leases and a compromise for the transitional law for the pricing of existing regular leases.

Final proposal rejected
This proposal was rejected by LTO, NAJK and BLHB, because the proposed flexible lease is too much in competition with new regular leases, the yielding capacity had been abandoned as the basis for the lease price and because the future of existing regular leases was insufficiently assured. In April 2016, the initiators presented the Spelderholt 2 based final proposal, which was rejected by NAJK and BLHB for the reasons stated above. The State Secretary subsequently appointed a mediator.

What could future lease rights look like?
The initiators' principle that the lease form with the most rights generates the highest lease price must be maintained. Various political parties agree that regular lease is too protected and that liberalized lease is too free. Limiting the lease price of flexible lease as a successor to the liberalized lease is negotiable for them. The acreage of regular leases decreases considerably every year, while the acreage of liberalized leases increases, which does not promote sustainable land use.

Leasehold a good alternative
In order to promote the use of land on the basis of a regular lease, the price of a new regular lease can be freely agreed upon. There is no need for career lease, ground lease is a good alternative for this. The lease price of flexible lease should be limited. The lessor must receive a reasonable return. The price of a flexible lease can be set above the price of an existing regular lease but - possibly depending on the term - below the price of a new (free) regular lease. The BLHB has already made a proposal for this.

Price relationship with yielding capacity
For all forms of lease, including flexible lease, the lease price must be related to the yielding capacity. When a new regular lease is issued, the lessee will be aware of this, because he is entering into a long-term agreement. For existing regular lease agreements, the lease price system for loose land as well as for agricultural homes and commercial buildings remains unchanged. Flexible leases will also be possible for farms and buildings (including greenhouses and individual stables). Further optimization of the lease price system should be investigated by having the principles (re)assessed by experts. 

Read it here advice by mediator Sicko Heldoorn, former deputy for agriculture of the province of Friesland, about the revision of the lease system.

Peter van der Eijk

Piet van der Eijk was the chairman of the Association of Land Tenants and Own Land Users (BLHB) from 2012 to the beginning of 2019. He also has an arable farm in the Biesbosch polder in the outskirts of the Eiland van Dordrecht.

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