Booming supply of rustic microfarms as a residential alternative in the countryside

The accelerated aging of the rural workforce , with more than 40% now over 65, the distribution of inheritances with a segmentation or fragmentation of farms for agricultural use, often undersized and not economically viable, and the boom in the sale of microfarms solely for leisure or recreational use are some of the most significant phenomena and risks affecting land and agricultural activity today, which are working against agricultural professionals. This translates into higher prices for rural land for agricultural use, which is not commensurate with its productive potential and, in many cases, hinders the development of farms with larger land areas.

This phenomenon of subdividing agricultural land for other uses is developing primarily around large cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, and various Andalusian provinces, although it is becoming more widespread throughout Spain to a greater or lesser extent. These plots average less than 10 hectares, which may or may not allow for the construction of a house in the countryside that can be converted into a permanent residence or used only for weekends when agricultural production is no longer the primary objective.

Rising housing prices in cities have led to the development of a new market for so-called microfarms, as alternative residential spaces in response to the high prices of purely urban housing. These spaces consist of a building and, at the same time, a small space on rural land.

In the last year, using rural land as a base, inheritance transfer transactions amounted to 180,000, while sales and purchases stood at around 160,000. The countryside is moving, but in many cases, along a path that does not favor the work and future of the increasingly fewer professionals dedicated to agricultural activity. They cannot afford to pay for the land at its value based on its production potential, compared to the interests of large food corporations or for whom land is merely an asset for leisure and enjoyment.

Since 2016, according to data managed by the Cocampo group, which specializes in rural land sales, farms with less than one hectare have registered growth of over 40%. On the other hand, farms with more than 100 hectares grew only 8%, especially for agricultural or hunting use.

Various reports on the structure of rural land, both from the 2020 Agricultural Census and the Survey on the Structure of Agricultural Holdings, provide clarifying data on the situation, although they differ on the evolution of holdings.

The entire agricultural sector is supported by a Useful Agricultural Area (UAA), which has seen a 1.6% decline in the last three years, from the 2020 Census to the 2023 Survey on the structure of agricultural holdings, from 23.9 to 23.5 million hectares.

In turn, the number of farms, also based on different sources and inconsistent data, ranges from the 895,000 reported in the Census to the 784,141 reported in the Survey. Almost 20% of the farms themselves are less than one hectare, more than 65% are less than 10 hectares, and only 6.2% are larger than 100 hectares, but they represent 58% of the total UAA.

The average SAU per farm increased by 13.2% in recent years, from 26.9 hectares to 30.5. The trend by region varies greatly. Thus, in Castile and León, the SAU increased from 63 to 75 hectares per farm, a 19% increase. At the top of the scale is Aragon, where it grew by 15%, from 53.7 to 61.8 hectares; 17.8% in Extremadura, from 43.7 to 52 hectares; and 20.7% in Madrid, from 39.3 to 47.6 hectares. At the bottom of the scale is Navarre, which decreased by 1.9% from 40.1 to 40.9 hectares, and Cantabria, where it grew by 2.6%, from 30 to 30.7 hectares.

Of the SAU, 52% is owned and 38% is leased, increasing due to the age and non-field-related professional activity of the new owners.