Select a region
Jersey’s countryside is a vital part of the island’s identity and consequently the use of its land is subject to tight controls, of which anyone contemplating the purchase of a property with land should be aware. The Agricultural Land (Control of Sales and Leases) (Jersey) Law 1974 (the 1974 Law) requires the Environment Minister’s consent to be obtained for all sales, transfers and leases of “agricultural land”. This term is defined to mean “land, including land under glass, used or capable of being used for any purpose of agriculture or horticulture”. However, the requirement to obtain the Minister’s consent does not apply to the sale, transfer or lease of an established garden measuring not more than one vergée (19,360 square feet) situated within the curtilage of a dwelling house.
The relevant authority for the purposes of the 1974 Law was originally the Agriculture and Fisheries Committee and consent is still often referred to colloquially as ‘Ag and Fish’ consent. Applications are now dealt with on behalf of the Minister by the Land Control Section of the Environment Department based at Howard Davis Farm in Trinity.
The 1974 Law requires the Minister when considering applications for consent to “have particular regard to the desirability of reserving agricultural land for the use of bona fide inhabitants of Jersey engaged wholly or mainly in work of an agricultural or horticultural nature in Jersey, and ensuring that any lease of agricultural land is on terms that encourage the continued cultivation of the land in accordance with the principles of good husbandry”.
Where the land in question is considered viable for commercial agriculture, conditions known as ‘(a) and (b)’ are usually imposed, in the following terms:
“(a) that the land involved in the transaction, shall not, without the consent of the Planning and Environment Minister, be occupied by anyone other than a bona fide inhabitant of the Island specifically approved by the Minister who is wholly or mainly engaged in work of an agricultural nature in Jersey for his own benefit and profit.
(b) that the land involved is used for agricultural or horticultural purposes only; this excludes the grazing of equine animals and the growing of trees without the written consent of the Planning and Environment Minister.”
If the purchaser is not an agriculturalist, these conditions will be supplemented by condition (e), as follows:
“(e) that the land involved shall not be occupied by the purchaser(s)”.
When assessing land for the purpose of deciding what conditions should be applied, the Land Control Section consider factors including:
size;
topography;
access;
drainage;
depth of soil;
presence of stone
The Land Control Section recognises that land is required for a whole range of uses besides agriculture and part of its job is to assess the agricultural value of land where it is proposed that the land use is changed. The assessment will determine if the land needs to be protected for the sole use of bona fide agriculturalists (i.e. commercial farmers) or if the land can be used for other purposes, such as:
agri-tourism;
tree planting or environmental schemes;
private horse grazing;
the creation of orchards;
the creation of park land;
smallholdings
Only in cases where the land, though technically constituting “agricultural land” for the purposes of the 1974 Law, is not in reality agricultural land will consent be granted on an unconditional basis. An example would be an existing garden with an area exceeding one vergée.
Purchasers of countryside properties may wish to be able to graze horses in the fields forming part of the property. As noted above, land which is considered viable for commercial agriculture can only be used for the grazing of horses with the Minister’s consent. The Land Controls Section can grant temporary changes of use under a licensing scheme, which allows for areas of land over two vergées in size to be used for non-agricultural purposes such as horse grazing, provided that the land owner can prove that there is no interest from the agricultural industry. This requires the owner to advertise the field in the JEP and on the www.gov.je website seeking potential tenants.
Permission can sometimes be obtained for the grazing of horses on a rotational basis, where landowners are allowed to rotate the use of their fields between commercial agricultural uses (for example cattle grazing) and horse grazing, in accordance with conditions specified by the Land Control Section.
Some may argue that these governmental controls represent an excessive curtailment of the free market in relation to land in Jersey. However some kind of statutory control of this nature is essential in order to safeguard the character and quality of the island’s countryside.
