Rights and obligations of lessee and lessor in farm lease

Verified 16 June 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

The execution of a farm lease must comply with the rules of the tenancy status. This status governs the contractual relationship between the lessor (owner) and the lessee (tenant). The Statute of the Landlord thus provides for numerous rights and obligations for each of the parties:

Lessee

The application of the rental status confers a number of rights on the lessee (tenant). But as with any lease, it is also bound by many obligations.

The main objective of the status of tenancy is to protect and stabilize the tenant's (tenant's) holding, while giving him a great deal of freedom in the conduct of his agricultural activity.

The rights of the lessee include:

Rights concerning the contractual relationship

  • Right to rent control

The rent (or rental) fixed in the lease must be between one minimum and one maximum determined by prefectural decree.

Please note

The rent control at the conclusion of the lease does not prevent a change in the rent each year depending on the change in benchmarks. It's about the national rental index for bare land and leased farm buildings, or the benchmark rent index for any residential buildings included in the lease.

  • Right to renewal of the lease
    The lessee (lessee) is entitled to automatic renewal of its lease when it expires.
    There are, however, some legal exceptions allowing the lessor (owner) to prevent this renewal (in particular in the event of the lessee's fault, or when he wishes to exercise his right of take-back in order to exploit the leased property himself).
  • Right of pre-emption
    When the lessor (owner) wishes to sell the leased property to a third party during the lease, the lessee has the option to acquire the leased property by priority.
  • Right to make a lease available to a business
    The lessee who has joined a GAEC: titleContent may entrust it with the operation of all or part of the leased property, for a period which may not exceed that of the lease. However, the owner must be informed.
  • Entitlement to make a contribution from the lease to a business
    The lessee shall have the possibility of the contribution of his right to the lease to one ASEC: titleContent or a group of owners or operators, with the prior agreement of the owner.
  • Entitlement to an exit allowance
    This compensation shall be payable by the lessor to the lessee at the end of the lease where he has, through his work or investments, provided improvements to rented property.
  • Right of assignment of the lease
    The lessee may in certain cases to give up its lease, with the agreement of the lessor. Such a transfer is permitted when it is made to the spouse or former partner of the lessee participating in the business, or descendants of the lessee who has reached the age of majority or who has been emancipated. The lessee may even simply incorporate these persons into the lease, as co-preneurs.
  • Right of termination of the lease
    The lessee sometimes has the right to terminate its lease before it ends. Termination cases include:
    • In case incapacity for work the lessee or any member of his family essential to the work of the farm
    • In case of death one or more members of the lessee's family who are essential to the work of the farm
    • Where the lessee buy a farm which he must exploit himself
    • When the policy holder has reached the age of retreat

Rights concerning the exploitation of the goods by the lessee

  • Right to change the layout of the holding
    The lessee (lessee) can perform all types of works or improvements, subject to inform previously the owner. The latter's authorization is sometimes required. For example, the lessee can build a storage building for his crops, or even combine various neighboring plots to improve the profitability of his farm.
  • Right to redirect cultures
    The operator (tenant) has the right to change the type of culture under lease. For example, he may turn parcels of land into grass, graze parcels of land, or use non-leasehold cultivation methods (such as plowing, irrigation, or rotating crops to preserve nutrients).
    Some changes may require donor approval.
  • Right to change the scope of the holding
    The lessee may carry out exchanges or leasing of parcels to ensure better use of leased property.
  • Right to carry out joint rotation operations
    The operator (lessee) shall have the possibility to carry out rotationtogether with other neighboring operators. This pooling of land and means of production can only be carried out within the framework of a business for participation formed between the lessee and other natural or legal persons.
    This practice makes it possible, for example, to combine several adjacent plots in a single operation, and thus to optimize the working time. The products are generally distributed among the different farmers according to the land area they have pooled.
  • Right to hunt
    The lessee has a hunting right on the leased fund. That right is strictly his staff and no other person is allowed to exercise it for him.

Throughout the term of the farm lease, the lessee (lessee) is required to comply with the lease termsHowever, its obligations are not limited to the content of the contract alone.

Indeed, it is possible that the lease does not mention all the rules of the status of rental which nevertheless apply to the contract.

The lessee is thus obliged to comply with the following obligations:

Pay the rent

The lessee must pay the rent (also called leasing) set out in the lease, in accordance with arrangements agreed, in particular as regards the number of installments per year, or the method of payment.

Maintain and maintain the fund

The lessee (lessee) is required to maintenance property and to their reparation, except where such repairs result from the obsolescence of such goods or from a case of force majeure. This obligation relates to reparations rents, and not the major repairs, unless they are due to a lack of maintenance by the lessee.

That retention obligation also includes that consisting, for the lessee, in preserve the goods at its disposal: This is to avoid any practice that could lead to their deterioration. For example, the lessee who uses a banned pesticide that contaminates leased land does not properly preserve the land.

Exploit and cultivate the land

This implies for the lessee:

  • to use reasonably properties rented in accordance with the destination fixed in the lease. The tenant must therefore exploit the properties rented according to use for which they are intended. For example, he will not be able to open a restaurant in one of the leased buildings, or turn part of the leased arable land into a golf course.
  • of garnish the fund and collect : it must provide the fund with all the elements necessary for exploitation effective (livestock, utensils, etc.). He must also harvest and store his crops.
Inform the lessor prior to carrying out work or improvements

Authorization from the lessor (owner) may be required in certain cases, for example when building a building.

Informing the lessor in the event of the usurpation of the leased property

The lessee shall notify the lessor when it has noticed a usurpation committed at the expense of the fund. This can include a third-party watercourse diversion or encroachment on the land (e.g. a neighbor's fence or wall is partially built on leased land). The usurpation may also be the result of a natural phenomenon which hinders the activity of the lessee.

A lessee who has not informed his lessor may be required to pay him a compensation.

Seek owner's approval to make an unplanned change to the lease

Such a change must allow to improve operation. Examples of such changes include the planting of plots of land, or the use of non-leasehold cultivation methods (e.g. plowing, irrigation, nutrient-friendly crop rotation).

Personal use of the lease

The lessee (lessee) must participate in person the exploitation of the property. It can be alone or assisted (in particular by an employee or a member of his family). The lessor may even request the termination of the lease if the breach of that obligation results in damage.

For example, when a co-lessee makes the leased property available to a business from which he withdraws, there is harm to the lessor: the latter loses the possibility of suing an infringement of the terms of the lease on both co-lessees.

Restore fund to same state

If a stocktaking has been completed at the conclusion of the lease, the lessee is obliged to return the leased buildings (but not the land), at the end of the lease, at least in the same condition as when he received them. However, it is not responsible for the damage caused by the age of the goods or a case of force majeure.

The work or improvements it has carried out may give rise to a compensation paid by the lessor. This may include, for example, refurbishment work in leased buildings.

Lessor

The conclusion and execution of a farm lease contract creates numerous obligations on the lessor. It also enjoys a number of rights which derive mainly from the obligations of the lessee.

The lessor shall have the following rights:

Right to collect rent (rental)

The lessor (owner) is entitled to the payment of the rent determined in the lease, as set out in arrangements agreed, in particular as regards the number of installments per year or the method of payment.

Right to be informed

The lessor has the right to be informed by the lessee (lessee) in different situations. This is particularly the case when the licensee intends to carry out works or improvements, changes not provided for in the lease, or in the event of usurpation to the detriment of the land (for example, the usurpation may result from the encroachment of a neighboring fence on the leased land or from a diversion of watercourses by a third party. It can also be the result of a natural phenomenon, such as flooding that renders leased land unusable.)

Right of take-back

This right of take-back allows the lessor to to terminate the lease for the purpose of take over leased land and buildings.

He may exercise his right of recovery for himself or for the benefit of one of the following persons: : spouse, partner or past partner, a descendant major or emancipated minor.

In the event of a takeover, the transferee shall, however, the obligation to devote themselves to exploitation agricultural goods for at least 9 years.

Right of termination

The lessor may terminate the lease in the cases listed by law. It can thus to terminate the lease in particular in the following situations:

  • In case of fault of the lessee, for example where the landlord does not pay his rent, or if he fails to comply with one of the obligations to inform the landlord
  • In case of death of the lessee, where none of his heirs fulfills the conditions for taking over the holding (for example if none of them has a permit to operate within the meaning of structural control).
Right of accession

The lessor has a right of accession the buildings or plantations which the lessee has constructed. This means that at the end of the lease, it becomes automatically owner of these improvements. In return, he must pay compensation to the lessee.

Obligation to issue and related obligations

  • Obligation to issue
    This obligation means that the lessor must available to the customer (tenant) of land and/or buildings free from any occupation, that is, occupied by no other tenant. This obligation also requires the lessor to issue land and buildings in good condition.
  • Obligation to carry out major repairs
    The lessor is required to carry out during the lease every major repairs. They are his sole responsibility. These major repairs include large walls and vaults, beams, retaining and fencing walls.
    On the other hand, the lessor is not obliged to carry out the rental repairs. For example, repairs to the tiles of rooms, or to the panels of partition), which remain at the expense of the lessee (tenant).
  • Obligation to rebuild
    If the buildings rented are destroyed for a reason independent of the lessee's will or action, the lessor is required to reconstruct them if such destruction compromise the balance of the holding. In practice, this can be destruction caused by an act of vandalism by a third party, or by bad weather.
    The amount the lessor must spend on this reconstruction is limited the amount paid by the insurance company which compensated the loss.
    One rent increase is possible if this amount is exceeded, if the lessee agrees.
    In the absence of reconstruction, the lessee may request the termination from the lease.
  • Obligation to maintain crops
    The lessor (owner) has an obligation to ensure permanence and quality of plantations. For example, it may have to renew the plantations if their condition no longer allows normal operation by the lessee (lessee).
    In the event of the lessor's failure to comply with this obligation, the joint rural leases court may authorize the lessee to have the work done necessary, at the owner's expense.

Guarantees due from the lessor

  • Guaranteed peaceful enjoyment
    The lessor must allow the lessee to use the leased property peacefully. This means that it must not no operational disturbance or impede the licensee's freedom of exploitation. For example, the owner who removes a fence no longer allows the tenant to use a meadow normally.
  • Warranty of capacity
    It may happen that the lease rent (rental) is determined on the basis of a certain area. In this case, the lessor is obliged to deliver goods (land, buildings...) from this same capacity.
    If the area actually leased is smaller than that provided for in the lease, the lessee may require a decrease rent. However, if the area is larger than expected, the lessor can grasp the Joint Rural Lease Court so that the lessee pays him a supplement rent. In this case, the lessee then has the possibility of disengaging from the lease (provided that the excess area exceeds 5%).
    This capacity guarantee is not public policy. The parties may therefore voluntarily derogate from in the lease.
  • Guarantee of hidden defects
    The lessor is obliged to guarantee the lessee the absence of hidden defects preventing the use of leased property.
    If the lessee (lessee) suffers damage due to hidden defects, he is entitled to a allowance paid by the lessor (owner). This compensation is due even if the owner ignorant the existence of these defects at the time of signing the lease. A hidden defect can be, for example, a faulty electrical installation that has caused electrocution, or the presence of asbestos in rented premises.
    This warranty does not apply to defects visible or those who were known the tenant (lessee) prior to the conclusion of the rural lease.

Financial obligations

  • Payment of the insurance premium
    In a farm lease, only the lessor (owner) is required to pay the insurance premium against the fire rented buildings.
  • Payment of the real estate tax on unbuilt property (TFPNB)
    On the other hand, built properties (buildings, warehouses, farm buildings, etc.) used for agricultural purposes are exempt property tax on built property (TFPB) on a permanent basis.