Agricultural tenanted land practices in England, June 2024
Updated 16 September 2024
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2024
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This release shows the results from the June 2024 Agricultural Tenanted Land Practices module, run as part of the 2024 June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture to gather information on the scale of tenanted land changes in recent years and intentions for the future.
The Agriculture Tenanted Land Practices module was voluntary, open to tenant farmers or farmers that have had land under a tenancy agreement in the last two years. Of the farmers who responded to the 2024 June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture 5,500 farms (23%) felt the module was relevant to them and of these, just over 3,900 were willing to complete the questions. Care should be taken when interpreting the results, as some questions relate only to small subsets of respondents. The results have not been weighted to account for the background survey population.
Key messages:
- The majority (78%) of survey respondents said the area of land they rent had stayed the same over the last two years and 11% of respondents reported an increase.
- Only 10% of respondents reported a decrease in the area of land in the last two years. The most common reason given was the landlord asking the tenant to surrender some or all of their rented land before the end of the tenancy agreement (33%).
- Where a change in land area was seen, the most common scale of change was by less than 25%.
- Looking ahead, 59% of respondents said they expected the area of land they rented to remain unchanged over the next two years.
Section 1 – Detailed Results
1.1 Land practices in the previous two years
In June 2024, when asked what type of landlord owned the land that is rented (or was rented in the past two years) a large majority (69%) said land was owned by a private landlord. A quarter said they rented land from a Charitable Body or Institution and 12% from a corporation or professional landlord (Figure 1). Respondents were able to select multiple options due to some farms having more than one tenancy agreement with different landlords.
Figure 1. Type of landlords who own the land rented by tenanted farmers (proportion of respondents)
| Response Options | |
|---|---|
| Private individual | 69% |
| Charitable body or institutional landowner | 25% |
| Corporation or professional landlord | 12% |
| Other landlord | 8% |
| Investment trusts | 4% |
| Don’t know | 1% |
All respondents were asked if the amount of land they rent had changed within the last two years. The majority (78%) of those who responded said the amount of rented land had remained the same. A further 11% said the amount of land had increased and the remaining 10% said the land had decreased (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Changes to the amount of rented land within the last 2 years (proportion of respondents)
| response | Increased | Decreased | Stayed the same | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rented land over past 2 years | 11% | 10% | 78% | 100% |
Of those who reported a change to the amount of land rented over the past two years, most (63%) said the rented land area had changed by less than 25%. This was consistent across increases or decreases in rented area (Figure 3). The most frequent timing of changes made to rented areas was at least 7 months ago or more (Figure 4).
Figure 3. Scale of change to rented land area within the last two years (proportion of respondents)
| Scale of change | Land changed by less than 25% | Land changed between 25% and less than 50% | Land changed between 50% and less than 75% | Land changed between 75% and less than 100% | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Increase in rented area | 65% | 18% | 8% | 9% | 100% |
| Decrease in rented area | 61% | 14% | 6% | 18% | 100% |
| Any change in rented area | 63% | 16% | 7% | 13% | 100% |
Figure 4. Timing of change to rented land areas in the last two years (proportion of respondents)
| Timing of change | In the last 3 months | 4-6 months ago | 7-12 months ago | More than 12 months ago | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Increase in rented area | 16% | 19% | 34% | 31% | 100% |
| Decrease in rented area | 12% | 16% | 43% | 29% | 100% |
| Any change in rented area | 14% | 18% | 38% | 30% | 100% |
The subset of respondents who reported that the land they rented had decreased (10%) were asked what factors had caused the decrease. The most common reason was the landlord asked me to surrender some or all of my rented land before the end of the tenancy agreement (33%), followed by tenancy term ended with no option to renew (30%), other reasons (14%) and tenancy term ended and chose not to renew (12%) (Figure 5). Other reasons given include ill health, change of owner or the landlord died and land was not suitable to farm or no longer profitable.
Figure 5. Reasons for rented land decreases within the last two years (1)
| Response | |
|---|---|
| Landlord asked me to surrender some or all of my rented land before the end of the tenancy agreement | 33% |
| Tenancy term ended, no option to renew | 30% |
| Other reason | 14% |
| Tenancy term ended, chose not to renew | 12% |
| Winding down the business | 6% |
| Purchased more land | 6% |
| Increase in the cost of rental payments | 5% |
| Retirement | 5% |
| Rented land elsewhere | 1% |
Note: 1. Proportion of respondents who reported area of rented land had decreased in the last two years.
Farmers who reported that the landlord had asked them to surrender some or all of their rented land before the end of the tenancy agreement were asked what caused the landlord to request this change. Re-purposing land for non-agricultural purposes e.g., development was the most common response with 34% of farmers choosing this option (Figure 6). This was followed by using the land for government funded agri-environment schemes (22%) and other reasons (22%).
Figure 6. Reasons for landlords requesting farmers surrender rented land within the last two years (1)
| Response options | |
|---|---|
| Re-purposing land for non-agricultural use | 34% |
| Using for government funded agri-environment schemes | 22% |
| Other reasons (2) | 22% |
| To farm themselves or contract farm | 20% |
| Use for non-government funded agri-environment purposes | 11% |
| Renting it to someone else | 11% |
| Re-purposing land for renewable energy generation | 9% |
Note:
- Proportion of respondents who reported area of rented land had decreased and the landlord had asked them to surrender some or all of their rented land before the end of the tenancy agreement.
- Other reasons include new SSSI designation, tax reasons and don’t know which were options on the module but cannot be shown separately for disclosure reasons.
1.2 Land practices in the next two years
All respondents were asked if they expected the amount of land they rent to change within the next two years. Of those who responded, 59% said they expected the amount of rented land would remain the same and a further 24% said they didn’t know whether it would change. Of the 18% who expected a change of some kind, 13% expected a decrease in the land area rented and 5% expected an increase (Figure 7).
Figure 7. Changes to rented land area in the next two years (proportion of respondents)
| — | Increase | Decrease | Stay the same | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rented land over past 2 years | 5% | 13% | 59% | 24% | 100% |
Of those who expected a change in rented land area, roughly half (51%) said the rented land area would change by less than 25%. This was similar regardless of whether the area rented was expected to increase or decrease (Figure 8). The most likely timing for these expected changes is within the next one to two years, with 40% of respondents selecting this option (Figure 9).
Figure 8. Scale of change to rented land area expected in the next two years (proportion of respondents)
| Scale of change | Land change of less than 25% | Land change between 25% and less than 50% | Land change between 50% and less than 75% | Land change between 75% and less than 100% | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Increase in rented area | 55% | 23% | 9% | 4% | 9% | 100% |
| Decrease in rented area | 49% | 18% | 9% | 19% | 5% | 100% |
| Any change in rented area | 51% | 20% | 9% | 15% | 6% | 100% |
Figure 9. Timing of change to rented land areas expected in the next two years (proportion of respondents)
| Scale of change | In the next 3 months | In the next 4-6 months | In the next 7-12 months | In the next 1-2 years | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Increase in rented area | 9% | 12% | 24% | 39% | 17% | 100% |
| Decrease in rented area | 10% | 17% | 19% | 40% | 13% | 100% |
| Any change in rented area | 10% | 16% | 20% | 40% | 14% | 100% |
Of the 13% of respondents who said they were expecting a decrease in the area of land rented, the landlord asking me to surrender some or all of my rented land before the end of the tenancy agreement was the most common response (32%). Followed by tenancy term ending and I will not have the option to renew (31%) and other reasons (18%). Other reasons given include land development and housing, change of owner or the landlord died and Government policy changes (Figure 10).
Figure 10. Reasons for rented land decreases in the next two years (1)
| Response Options | |
|---|---|
| Landlord has asked me to surrender some or all of my rented land before end of agreement | 32% |
| Tenancy term will end and I will not have the option to renew | 31% |
| Other reasons | 18% |
| Tenancy term will end and I don’t want to renew | 8% |
| Increase in the cost of rental payments | 8% |
| Retirement | 7% |
| Winding down the business | 7% |
| Rented land elsewhere | 2% |
| Purchased more land | 2% |
Note: 1. Proportion of respondents who reported area of rented land is expected to decrease in the next two years.
Farmers who reported that the landlord may ask them to surrender some or all of their rented land before the end of the tenancy agreement were asked what they felt would cause cause the landlord to request the land to be surrendered. Using the land for government funded agri-environment schemes (34%), re-purposing land for non-agricultural purposes e.g., development (32%) and other reasons (19%) were the most common responses (Figure 11).
Figure 11. Reasons for landlords requesting farmers to surrender rented land in the next two years (1)
| Response options | |
|---|---|
| Use for government funded agri-environment schemes | 34% |
| Re-purposing land for non-agricultural use | 32% |
| Other reasons (2) | 19% |
| Re-purposing land for renewable energy generation | 17% |
| Use for non-government funded agri-environment purposes | 13% |
| To farm themselves or contract farm | 11% |
| Renting it to someone else | 5% |
Note:
- Proportion of respondents who reported area of rented land may decrease in the next two years because the landlord may ask them to surrender some or all of their rented land before the end of the tenancy agreement.
- Other reasons include new SSSI designation, tax reasons and don’t know which were options on the module but cannot be shown separately for disclosure reasons.
Of those farmers who reported they had been asked or may be asked to surrender some of their tenanted land, 56% said it would affect the viability of their farming business, 24% said it would not and 20% said they did not know.
Section 2 - About these statistics
2.1 Background
The Agricultural Tenanted Land Practices module was conducted through a module added to the June 2024 Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture in England. The survey was voluntary and gathered information from holdings with rented land about tenanted land practices. The information was collected to help understand the scale and nature of any tenanted land changes in recent years and intentions for the next two years and whether any changes were part of natural turnover or influenced by other factors.
2.2 Survey methodology
The module was relevant to farmers who had or have land under a tenancy agreement in the last two years. Farmers were asked if the survey was relevant to them and whether they were willing to complete the questions. Of the farmers who responded to the 2024 June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture, 5,500 farmers felt the Tenanted Land Practices module was relevant (23% of the total June Survey response) and of these, 3.900 were willing to complete the module. The results shown in this release relate only to those farms that completed the module. Care should be taken when interpreting the results, as some questions relate only to small subsets of respondents. The results are not weighted to account for the background survey population.
To be included in the main sample for the June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture, holdings had to have at least 50 cattle, 100 sheep, 100 pigs, 1,000 poultry or 20 hectares of arable crops or orchards.
2.3 Data Analysis
The data for the Agricultural Tenanted Land Practices in England are subject to rigorous validation checks which identify inconsistencies within the data. Any individual holdings which did not meet our definition of a tenanted farm were excluded from analysis.
2.4 Definitions
Tenanted farm – All or some area on the holding is rented under a Full Agricultural Tenancy, Full Business Tenancy, Other agreement or is seasonally rented in (364 days or less)
2.5 Data notes
- All figures relate to commercial holdings.
- Proportional breakdown rounding may be adjusted to add up to 100%.
2.6 Other survey results and publications
More detailed results from the June Survey can be found on our Structure of the agricultural industry in England and the UK at June web page. This includes various time series of crop areas and livestock numbers and detailed geographical breakdowns of the results. The next releases from the June Survey will be the Agricultural Land Use in England and the Agricultural Workforce in England results to be published on 26th September 2024. Land ownership statistics will be included in the Agricultural Land Use in England release.
2.7 Feedback
We welcome feedback and any thoughts to improve the publication further. Please send any feedback to: farming-statistics@defra.gov.uk.
Section 3 - What you need to know about this release.
3.1 Contact details
Responsible statistician: Jennifer James
Team: Farming Statistics - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Email address: Farming-Statistics@defra.gov.uk
Telephone: 03000 6001704
3.2 Official statistics status
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You can read about how Official Statistics in Defra comply with these standards on the Defra Statistics website. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards using the contact details above. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.