We are frequently asked about the tenant's rights during a sale of land. This is the subject of our 6th article dedicated to the specificities of the rural lease.
The tenant benefits from a right of pre-emption (article L412-1 of the rural code) during the sale of the property leased by the owner. This is one of the public order provisions of the rural lease which applies whether the lease is written or verbal and from which it is not possible to deviate.
This priority is stronger than a simple right of preference because the tenant has the possibility to contest the transfer price if he considers it exaggerated.
When the tenant wishes to exercise his right of pre-emption, he must take a position on the price proposed by the seller. To assess whether this price is consistent with the market, our land price observatory (DVF data 2020-2025) provides average and median prices and P10/P90 ranges by department — an objective reference for negotiating with full knowledge of the facts.
The tenant must meet a certain number of conditions to benefit from this right of pre-emption:
A right of pre-emption open only on sales of agricultural land.
This right of pre-emption is only open within the framework of a sale and therefore does not apply during a donation or an inheritance. It also does not apply when the sale is made to a relative or ally up to the third degree inclusive (grandparents, parents, child, brother and sister, uncle and nephew) or for the benefit of the State or a public authority.
The seller must allow the tenant to exercise his right of pre-emption. The sale project must therefore be notified to him and contain the prices, charges and conditions of the sale. The tenant has a period of 2 months and 3 options:
In this last case, both the tenant and the lessor will remain free to accept the prices set after expertise by the Court: the tenant may waive his right of pre-emption, the owner may waive the sale.
If the owner sells several plots of which only a part is concerned by the rural lease, he must allow his tenant to exercise his right only on the leased plots by splitting his sale.
If the terms of the sale change after notification to the tenant, it is mandatory to start the procedure again from the beginning. Indeed, non-compliance with the right of pre-emption exposes the sale to nullity and to damages.
Last point, the farmer having exercised his right of pre-emption undertakes to farm the property himself for at least 9 years as owner under penalty of damages for the benefit of the evicted buyer.
Author's note: The information we present is purely informative and educational in nature and cannot substitute for an analysis carried out by a rural law professional. In the event of a conflict, difficulty, etc., we invite you to contact one of these professionals (lawyers, notaries, rural law jurists, etc.).
