Council farm tenancies continue to disappear in England

Fewer tenancies were offered to farmers by local authorities in the past year, continuing a concerning long-term decline in the number of county council-owned farms in England.

A total of 33 out of 43 authorities responded to Defra’s 74th annual report on smallholdings in England, which revealed there were 1,346 tenants as at 31 March 2024.

This represents a 7% reduction during the past 10 years, and the loss of roughly 118 farm tenancies, based on the available dataset.

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A total of 127 tenancies were terminated during the 2023-24 financial year, while only 101 new tenancies were granted.

Defra says council farms continue to play an important role in the tenanted agricultural sector across England, covering approximately 73,400ha of agricultural land.

Average rent across all county farm tenancies were £367/ha during the period, according to the report.

Equipped farms, which account for 47% of lettings, cost £55/ha more on average than bare farmland.

Mixed holdings account for 40.6% of offerings, while arable account for 25%, dairy/stock rearing 15.6%, sole dairy 12.5%, and stock rearing 6.3%.

Lifetime tenancies made up 18% of agreements, 20% were farm business tenancies (FBTs) under five years, 18% were FBTs between five and 10 years, and 35% were FBTs of more than 10 years.

Retirement tenancies represented 9% of all agreements.

TFA concerns

A lack of data provided has been raised as a concern by the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA), which states given that this is a legal requirement it is hugely disappointing that Defra was only able to secure returns from 80% of the 43 local authorities.

A TFA spokesman said: “Local authorities should be under an obligation to provide this information, given how important these farms are on a national basis.

“Nevertheless, the report continues to underline the important role played by these farms within the tenanted sector of agriculture in England.”