Agricultural Tenure in England and Wales 2007

The report presents a repeat of a 1989-90 postal survey to explore the land tenurial changes in England and Wales that have resulted from legislative and structural change. Clearly, since 1990, the introduction of Farm Business Tenancies means that the two sets of results, while not directly comparable, allows the occupancy of land under unconventional forms of tenancy to be explored and contrasted. Furthermore, many factors influence the occupancy of land including taxation, inheritance laws, the profitability of farming, and structural and policy changes within the industry. Therefore, the occupancy of agricultural land in 2007 should be set against this backcloth of socio-political changes that impact upon the industry. Finally, this report is split into two sections, the first focuses on the occupation of land in England and Wales using weighted sample data, while the second explores some of the dynamics behind land tenure using the unweighted sample data