Farmland leasing schemes (portage foncier): the complete guide to financing your set-up in France
📖 Reading time: 7 min • Farm finance • Set-up & takeover
Buying a farm often means finding anywhere from €500,000 to several million euros for the land alone, before you have even financed the equipment, stock or working capital. For many project owners — whether they are setting up for the first time or taking over a farm — that burden is simply incompatible with a balanced financing plan.
This is exactly the problem land leasing schemes (portage foncier) set out to solve. This guide explains what a land leasing scheme is, the different models available, how to access one in practice, and who the main players are in France.
What is a farmland leasing scheme?
A land leasing scheme is an arrangement in which a third party — a land company, a cooperative, a fund or a public body — buys the farmland instead of the project owner, who then farms it under a lease.
The farmer no longer owns the land but rents it. In return, they pay rent (fermage) calculated on the value of the land, and can focus their borrowing capacity on what is genuinely productive: equipment, livestock buildings, stock and the farm business itself. Eventually — depending on the contract — they can buy the land back, pass it on to a successor or simply hand it back at the end of their career.
Why are land leasing schemes growing?
Several structural factors explain the rapid growth of this market over the past decade:
Soaring farmland prices: land prices have risen steadily, making it increasingly hard for first-time farmers to buy land outright.
Generational renewal: more than half of French farmers will have reached retirement age by 2030, creating a huge need for farm transfers.
Bank constraints: banks rarely finance 100% of the land in a set-up. A leasing scheme takes the land "out" of the bank financing plan.
The rise of impact investing: private funds and individual savers are looking to invest in sustainable farming projects — land leasing schemes give them a structured vehicle.
The 3 main land leasing models
There is no single land leasing scheme, but several radically different approaches. Choosing the wrong model for your project can have serious consequences for the future transfer or value of your farm. Here are the three main families.
1. Temporary lease-to-buy with a compulsory buy-back
This is the most common model. An operator buys the land and makes it available to the farmer under a lease. At the end of a contractually agreed period (5 to 25 years depending on the case), the farmer must buy the land back — or see it offered to a third party.
Suited to: project owners who will be able to invest later on, standard takeover or set-up projects with a long-term ownership goal.
Approach: capital and ownership — the farmer becomes the owner in time.
Example operators : SAFER (ELAN fund), Volney Bocage, FEVE, Foncière Agricole Occitanie, Hectarea.
2. Career lease with no transfer of ownership
Historically offered by non-speculative organisations, this model rests on a radically different philosophy: land is a common good, to be farmed rather than accumulated. The farmer is a tenant for life (a career lease or a renewable 9-year lease). On retirement, they can pass the lease on to a child — but can neither sell the land nor realise any economic value from the lease.
Suited to: organic or small-scale farming set-ups, profiles with no ownership ambitions.
Approach: non-capitalist / collective (land is a common good).
Main operator : Foncière Terre de Liens.
3. Transferable lease with an optional buy-back
This is the most innovative and least known model. Offered in particular by Terrafine, it is based on the transferable lease (bail cessible) — a legal instrument that gives the farmer a right over the land, recorded as an asset on their balance sheet. The farmer is free to decide whether to buy the land back, according to their means — with no obligation to do so.
Special case — leaseback: Terrafine can also work with farmers who already own their land and want to sell it to raise cash (to reduce debt or finance investments) while continuing to farm it under a lease.
Suited to: set-up or development projects focused on investing in production tools rather than land ownership.
Approach: entrepreneurial capital — the right to the lease replaces ownership as the central asset.
How to go about it in practice
Step 1 — Assess the place of land in your financing plan
Before contacting a land leasing operator, you need to know what share of your overall package the land represents. As a rule of thumb: if land accounts for more than 40–50% of the total to be financed, it becomes a sticking point for banks. That is the threshold at which a leasing scheme really makes sense.
Step 2 — Identify the right type of scheme for your project
Ask yourself the key questions: do I want to own land in the long run? Can my project be passed on as a going concern? What is my farming approach (organic, conventional, agro-ecological)? What is my time horizon on this farm? The answers will point to the most suitable model.
Step 3 — Target operators by area and project
Operators don't all cover the whole of France and don't all have the same eligibility criteria: minimum size, type of production, required farming practices, amount caps. Some require a commitment to organic farming.
Step 4 — Put together a strong file
Land companies assess your project the way a lender would: business plan, financial forecasts, farming CV, overall consistency. A well-structured file significantly increases your chances of securing a leasing scheme at the right time.
Step 5 — Coordinate the scheme with the rest of your financing plan
A land leasing scheme isn't built in isolation. It has to be combined with bank loans (including the discounted loans some banks offer for new entrants), equipment leasing, set-up grants (DJA, regional grants) and your own contribution. That is exactly the joining-up work we do at Agricourtage.
The main land leasing operators in France
The land leasing market has become much more structured since 2010. Here is an overview of the main organisations active in France.
🌿 FEVE
🌿 Hectarea
What Agricourtage does in this area
Land leasing is a powerful lever — but it only works if it is properly integrated into the overall financing plan. At Agricourtage, we step in at every stage:
Diagnosis: is a leasing scheme right for your project? Which model? Which operator?
Structuring: how should the scheme be combined with your bank financing, your own contribution and your set-up grants?
Introductions: we point you to operators whose criteria genuinely match your project.
End-to-end support: a complete, consistent financing plan that is credible to lenders, right through to the release of funds.
FAQ – Farmland leasing schemes
Does a land leasing scheme replace a bank loan?
No — a land leasing scheme doesn't replace a loan, it complements it. By taking the land out of the financing plan, it reduces the amount you need to borrow, improves your debt ratio and frees up repayment capacity to finance equipment, buildings and working capital. Most projects combine a leasing scheme with standard bank financing.
Who can benefit from a land leasing scheme?
Criteria vary from one operator to another. The main target profiles are: first-time farmers setting up outside the family, people taking over a farm where land makes up too large a share of the financing plan, and sometimes established farmers looking to reduce their debt through a leaseback.
How much does a land leasing scheme cost?
The farmer pays rent (fermage) to the land company, generally within the limits set by departmental prefectoral orders. Some operators charge arrangement fees (from €2,000 up to 10% depending on the case) and/or annual monitoring fees. The overall cost should be compared with the repayments on an equivalent land loan — in most projects, a leasing scheme works out cheaper in the short term.
What is the difference between a land leasing scheme and the SAFER?
The SAFER is the public farmland agency, with statutory powers (pre-emption right, resale of land). It also offers temporary leasing through the ELAN fund, but in a different framework from private or community land companies. The SAFER can complement a leasing scheme, particularly to secure access to land during a transaction.
Is a land leasing scheme compatible with the DJA?
Yes, in most cases. A land leasing scheme is generally compatible with the Young Farmers' Grant (DJA) and regional set-up grants. It is nonetheless essential to check the specific conditions with your DDT(M) (departmental agriculture office) and your Chamber of Agriculture, as criteria vary from region to region.
What happens if I can't buy the land back at the end of the scheme?
It depends on the type of scheme. In models with a compulsory buy-back, a farmer who cannot buy the land back will see it offered to a third party — which may mean the end of farming on that land. That is why it is crucial to plan your buy-back capacity as soon as the lease is signed.
Can several leasing operators be combined on one project?
It's rare but technically possible, particularly when the amounts exceed a single operator's caps. It makes the legal and financial coordination more complex. In that case, bringing in a farm finance broker to structure the package is particularly recommended.
Do you have a farm set-up or takeover project?
Would you like to assess whether a land leasing scheme makes sense in your financing plan?
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