SAFER and land rental

[woodin]

We have some land to rent out at the end of this year when the present farmer retires. we kept his rent at a peppercorn level when we bought the house and land, but when we let it out in Dec we would like to get a fair rent. Does anyone know please, who is responsible for setting a fair rent? Is it SAFER, or a notaire? Thanks.

[Sashabel]

We have some land around our house which a local farmers uses for free as we were informed that if we charged him rent and didn't use it ourselves, then after a number of years he has the right to claim the land as his own.  If this is the case, then I would be very wary of charging anyone for the use of your land.

Perhaps we have got it wrong - would be very grateful for more information on this matter.

Sasha 

[woodin]

Thats not as I understand it Sasha, but I will be on my guard just in case.  I'll let you know any information that I find out.

[Paul Bradford]

Hi,

You do have to be very careful when letting land. The minimum let as I understand it is nine years. (This was covered in an article in the past year in Living France). This is transferable to a family member i.e. if the farmer dies it can pass on to the family. Apparently, even if you charge nothing for the land there is a possibly it can be construed that you are receiving benefit form the letting as you would not have to cut the grass etc, and as such you could lose the land for nine years!

We have bought some land off a local farmer and our intention was to continue to let him farm it. Following our concerns regarding this we spoke with the estate agent. They did tell us that this was normally the case. However they did say that the farmer was one of the most trustworthy people that they knew and it shouldn't be a problem. We will probably take advise from the Notaire and see if some sort of contract can be written to safeguard us.

I think you should be careful if you plan to let the land.

 

Regards

Paul Bradford