MPs adopt a text to better combat the disappearance of agricultural land

This cross-party bill, defended by the socialist MP Peio Dufau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), was adopted by a very large majority of MPs (203 for, 3 against) from La France Insoumise to the National Rally, including those from the government camp.

The text aims to combat the loss of agricultural land following house sales, a phenomenon better known as "hidden consumption."

This involves, for example, the purchase of agricultural land to create buffer zones between neighbors or to make these lands into spaces such as unused gardens in a residential area.

According to figures put forward by Mr. Dufau, by 2023, 27.900 hectares of land still used for agriculture, but which are no longer actually being used, will have been lost across the country - more than two and a half times the size of Paris.

These losses of agricultural land most directly concern areas close to the coast but more broadly areas where farmers "are encouraged to sell their homes in light of land prices", according to the words of the Minister of Agriculture Annie Genevard, who also noted the "alarming observation" of this phenomenon.

The adopted text thus provides for several provisions to strengthen the pre-emption rights of Safer during sales of these goods and to strengthen the information obligation to which sellers are subject.

"The goal is to save farmland, but also to save buildings so that new farmers can settle there," according to Mr. Dufau.

The rapporteur welcomed the adoption of this text, "a first step", and called for a "much broader" law on agricultural land.

Because if nothing is done, "hidden consumption" is expected to accelerate given demographics, warns Mr. Dufau, who points out that in the next ten years, two-thirds of farmers will retire. "That's a lot of land that risks changing hands," he says.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.