780 Farming the land ?

From what I have heard if you are not using rural land for agricultural purposes neighbouring farmers can put in a claim for the land. Whether this means they take ownership of the land or just rent it I do not know.

No!
only if you give him premission.
Of course he could do it in your absence but then you could take action against him... If you are in Italy for such a short time why don't you come to an agreement with him? that way he would keep an eye on your house when it is empty...

Paola

ciao a tutti
Sano it sounds to me you are talking about pre emption rights, this is something that we had our solicitor and estate agent sort out before we bought the property in the form of a signed declaration renouncing there right to pre emption, as far as we are concerned we have 15000m2 of land and we have agreed with the vendors brother who has been farming the land for 30 odd years to carry on in return for a quantity of olive oil, i would be very unhappy if my neighbour took it upon him/herself to farm my land without permission and would certainly have words with them.

you can find if you do not maintain the land yourself that a neighbour can take over this maintenace and after a long period.... not sure of the number of years... but i think something around ten plus of continuous maintenace of your ground...without your permission it can become theirs by right of use... i think this will mainly apply to emigrants from italy who left the land and after twenty years or so wondered if they could recoup some capital from their homes...alsa to find a neighbour had aquired rights to it...

Unless a specific servitude in the form of easements or profits à prendre has been extended to your neighbours, no one has the right to use or take anything from your land without your express permission.

I think what Sano is referring to is the claim under what is known as the principle of Usucapione (covered by article 1158 of the Civil Code). For example, if I have been using land (or any immovable property) continuously and solely for 20 years, and no one has contested to my doing so, I have the right to claim that property as my own.

Thanks all for the interesting replies. We do try to keep the land tidy when we're there, and this year did some pruning to our olive trees as well as some general tidying up and a little bit of planting. We intend to visit for around 3 months next year but in order to do this we have to sacrifice any visits this year and it means that a whole year will pass before we see our little house again, hence the curiosity about rights to work the land in our absence. We have considered asking the neighbours to look after the trees in return for some oil but are very wary about going ahead with it for the above mentioned reasons although we do realize that eventually some kind of arrangement will have to be made if our olives aren't to go to waste.

We intend making a contract with our neighbour next time we visit Puglia at the local Coldiretti office to say that he farms our land - olive groves, and gives us a certain amount of olive oil, or some similar arrangement. We are not resident either.
Although on excellent terms, I think it's wise in case we wanted to sell in the future and any problems arise. Only thing is now bringing up the subject is slightly awkward, so wish we had started off on this basis. :)

[QUOTE=Flyingveepixie]Thanks all for the interesting replies. We do try to keep the land tidy when we're there, and this year did some pruning to our olive trees as well as some general tidying up and a little bit of planting. We intend to visit for around 3 months next year but in order to do this we have to sacrifice any visits this year and it means that a whole year will pass before we see our little house again, hence the curiosity about rights to work the land in our absence. We have considered asking the neighbours to look after the trees in return for some oil but are very wary about going ahead with it for the above mentioned reasons although we do realize that eventually some kind of arrangement will have to be made if our olives aren't to go to waste.[/QUOTE]

I would suggest that if you have a willing farmer (or even a local villager) willing to take care of your olive grove then consider entering into a contract with them to do so. You will then minimise the work you have to do during your holidays, have the comfort of knowing that there is someone keeping an eye on your place (as they have a vested interest in its security) and maybe get a few bottles of olive oil produced on your own land each year.

To avoid the issue of the 20 year uncontested usage of the land, I would suggest that you consider (if this works in Italy) setting time limits to the contract that will then be renewed every so often.

If the land is used in force of a contract there's no risk of usucapione, since the one who' using your land is not using it as an owner, but just in the terms of the contract and under your permission

do you suggest that the agreement be a written contract or is it ok to have averbal contract as many people are reluctant to have a formal written contract?

[QUOTE=marco]do you suggest that the agreement be a written contract or is it ok to have averbal contract as many people are reluctant to have a formal written contract?[/QUOTE]

scripta manent
better a written contract, but it depends on the general fee of the agreement.
If you're talking of few euro a written contract could be "oversized".
farmers are rluctant to "subscribe", they prefer a shaken hand, but since you're not italian and I don't think the farmer speaks english there should be problems of comunication, so i suggest to put down few word on a piece of paper that will remain for the future.

[QUOTE=Sano]I would suggest that if you have a willing farmer (or even a local villager) willing to take care of your olive grove then consider entering into a contract with them to do so. You will then minimise the work you have to do during your holidays, have the comfort of knowing that there is someone keeping an eye on your place (as they have a vested interest in its security) and maybe get a few bottles of olive oil produced on your own land each year.

To avoid the issue of the 20 year uncontested usage of the land, I would suggest that you consider (if this works in Italy) setting time limits to the contract that will then be renewed every so often.[/QUOTE]

You will find that Legge 203/1982 governs contracts of this nature, which come under the heading of norme sui contratti agrari.

If you enter into a contract with a farmer (coltivatore diretto) to rent your land, the general rule is that the rental period must run for a minimum of 15 years. You can reduce the duration but if there is some subsequent disagreement and any litigation, the injured party can prorogate the contract by law.