Looking for recreational land for sale in Mayenne (53) means turning to a department of dense hedgerow country, where hedge-lined meadows border rivers such as the Mayenne, the Erve and the Oudon, between the wooded Coëvrons hills and the cattle-farming Craon area. Farm ponds and pools, a legacy of a scattered rural settlement pattern, are particularly numerous here. On this page, ma-propriete.fr gathers the listings of recreational land for sale in Mayenne: a hedge-lined meadow with a pond, Coëvrons woodland, a riverside plot.
You will find price benchmarks drawn from actual sales, a tour of the areas where these plots are concentrated and the precautions to take before buying in an agricultural or natural zone. To frame your project, read our guide on how to turn agricultural land into recreational land: it explains what the planning rules allow, and what they forbid.
There is no such thing as a "recreational land price" in the French notarial records: the DVF database records sales of agricultural land, woodland and ponds, and a recreational plot is priced against these three benchmarks, higher or lower depending on what it adds (vehicle access, a water point, fencing, an existing shelter, a village nearby). The table below gives, for each benchmark, the sales recorded in 2025 in Mayenne (53), the median price and the range between the first decile (floor) and the ninth decile (ceiling), with the national figure for comparison.
| DVF 2025 benchmark | Sales | Median price | Range (P10 – P90) | France median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bare agricultural land (€/ha) | 343 | €6,059/ha | €4,600/ha – €9,000/ha | €5,307/ha |
| Woodland (€/ha) * | 256 | €5,000/ha | €3,017/ha – €9,426/ha | €4,934/ha |
| Pond (€/m²) * | 53 | €2.19/m² | €0.82/m² – €5.46/m² | €2.54/m² |
Bare agricultural land is above the national median (€5,307/ha), with the median price moving +6.8% between 2020 and 2025. Woodland trades close to the national benchmark (€4,934/ha), and a pond, a much rarer asset, is valued per square metre of water and banks. To compare a listing, bring everything back to the square metre: €6,059/ha of bare land is €0.61/m², against €2.19/m² for a pond. Recreational land, almost always classified as an agricultural or natural zone, generally sells slightly above bare agricultural land; but it usually remains subject to the SAFER land agency's right of pre-emption, and the SAFER may pre-empt with a downward price revision if the price is excessive compared with local land prices. These benchmarks therefore also help you avoid paying a price the SAFER would challenge.
Find the detail by department, plot size and year in our agricultural land price observatory and in the forest price observatory. Source: DVF (Demandes de valeurs foncières), 2025 sales, processed by ma-propriete.fr; medians published from 30 sales upwards. * Fewer than 30 sales in the department: the benchmark shown is the regional figure for "Woodland"; regional figure for "Pond".
Mayenne is a department of dense hedgerow country: the typical plot is a meadow of a few thousand square metres, lined with oak and hornbeam hedges, often inherited from a cattle farm and sometimes fitted with a pond. Such meadows are found across the whole territory, from the Craon area in the south-west to the edges of the Ernée area in the north. The Coëvrons, wooded hills around Evron and Sainte-Suzanne, offer hillier deciduous woodland, sought after for firewood and hunting, though supply there stays limited.
Ponds make up a notable share of the supply in Mayenne, well above neighbouring departments: enlarged farm ponds, old mill ponds along the Erve and the Varenne, and pools dug for watering livestock or fishing. Many of these plots are sold with a shelter or an old farm building, whose status should be checked before buying, particularly when it comes to a converted barn. This relative abundance of water features is one of the clearest differences between Mayenne and the rest of Pays de la Loire.
The Craon area, in the south-west, holds a dense cattle-farming hedgerow landscape where meadows with a pond are common and prices have stayed reasonable, well away from any major town. The Coëvrons, around Evron, Sainte-Suzanne and the neighbouring Sillé-le-Guillaume forest, offer hillside woods and a few clearings, in a more rolling setting. The Mayenne valley, from Château-Gontier to Laval, offers riverside meadows, prized for fishing and easy proximity to the towns. The Ernée and Bais area, to the north, keeps a quieter hedgerow landscape, with a steady supply of small hedge-lined plots, close to the border with Normandy and generally overlooked by buyers from further afield.
The most affordable areas remain the Ernée and Bais area, to the north, away from the main roads. Well-exposed meadows with a pond, riverside plots close to Laval or Château-Gontier, and the most sought-after Coëvrons woods sell above the departmental average.
The local planning document classifies most land as agricultural (A) or natural (N), where a cabin, a chalet or a light leisure dwelling cannot be installed freely. A shelter or an old farm building is only an asset if it was properly authorised; otherwise it may have to be removed. Check access to the plot, a rural track or a right of way, as well as whether water and electricity are connected, which is rare outside villages. Flood zones along the Mayenne, the Erve and the Oudon should also be checked.
Given how many ponds are offered for sale, French water law deserves particular attention: the pond's legal status, the condition of the dam and the outlet, upkeep obligations and any required administrative declaration. On land classified as agricultural, the SAFER land agency may exercise its right of pre-emption, with a risk of the price being revised down if it exceeds local land prices. Also ask for the exact cadastral area and whether the boundaries have been surveyed before concluding, especially when the plot has been split off from a larger farm.
The listings of recreational land in Mayenne published on ma-propriete.fr come from private sellers, estate agents and notaries. Filter by size, by price and by the presence of a pond, then set up an e-mail alert to be notified of new plots. You can also widen your search to recreational land for sale in Pays de la Loire.
