Increased uncertainty in the agricultural sector encouraged both landowners and farmers to take a shorter-term view of agreements in 2025.
Drawing on all 27 of the CAAV’s local associations across England and Wales, the 49thsurvey covers land choices across 88,384 acres in the year to October 31, 2025. It found a net loss in let land of 4,510 acres, with the proportion of Agricultural Holdings Act (AHA) tenancies being re-let declining sharply. Historically, 75-80% of AHA tenancies have been re-let; this dropped to under 53% in 2025. At the same time, the proportion of units being sold when AHAs ended increased from a typical 8-10% to nearly 23%.
“Activity in the let sector remains overwhelmingly in terms of bare land,” notes Jeremy Moody, secretary and adviser to the CAAV. “This has been the case for many years and is often a cause of misunderstanding. Only a small minority of lettings (6.8% in 2025) are of what would conventionally be called ‘farms’ with a house, buildings and land.”