Housing rights of farm workers
Read this advice if you work on a farm and live somewhere that belongs to your employer.
Most people who get housing with their job have to move out when their job ends.
But if you have an 'agricultural tenancy', you can stay in your home after your job ends.
Who has an agricultural tenancy?
Not all farm workers have agricultural tenancies.
You need to:
work full time in farming
live in a self contained home
have worked in farming for at least 91 weeks out of the last 104
The 91 weeks includes paid holiday, sickness, and working on another farm for a different employer.
You can have an agricultural tenancy even if you do not pay rent or have a written tenancy or licence agreement.
You do not have an agricultural tenancy if your landlord gave you a notice that said you have an assured shorthold tenancy.
They must have given you the notice before your agreement started. From 18 February 1997 this notice had to be on Form 9.
Full time farm work
You must be employed by your landlord and not be a self employed contractor.
Your tasks must include:
farming crops
dairy farming
working with livestock
working with farming equipment, for example driving a tractor
Working on a fish farm does not count.
You must do this work for at least 35 hours a week.
You can work less than 35 hours a week if you have a permit to work shorter hours because of an injury at work.
Self contained home
You must:
live in a self contained property
be able to exclude other people from your home
Excluding other people means you can decide who comes in and when.
Your employment contract might describe where you live as a 'farm cottage'.
You do not have an agricultural tenancy if you share your home with your employer or other people who are not part of your family.
You do not work for a government agency
You do not have an agricultural tenancy if you are employed by:
a government department
the Forestry Commission
a housing association
a local council
the Crown
Your rights if you have an agricultural tenancy
Your rights depend on when you moved in.
If you moved in on or after 15 January 1989
You have an 'assured' agricultural tenancy.
It gives you similar rights to a private assured tenant.
If you moved in before 15 January 1989
You have a 'protected' or 'regulated' agricultural tenancy.
It gives you similar rights to a private tenant with a regulated tenancy.
Can your landlord make you leave?
If you have an agricultural tenancy, you do not have to leave just because you have:
retired or resigned
been dismissed or made redundant
You only have to leave if a court gives your landlord a possession order telling you to leave.
Your landlord can only get a possession order in certain circumstances. These include if you:
do not pay the rent
break a condition of the tenancy
damage your home or cause nuisance
have suitable alternative accommodation from your landlord or the council
These rules apply if you have an assured or regulated agricultural tenancy. But you have more rights if you moved in before 15 January 1989.
Your landlord must offer you somewhere else to live if they need your home for another farm worker.
Can your landlord ask you to pay rent?
Your landlord could ask you to pay rent when you retire or stop working for them.
You could negotiate and agree new rent together.
If you moved in on or after 15 January 1989
Your landlord could ask you to pay a similar rent to other private tenants in the local area.
If you and your landlord cannot agree, you can ask a tribunal to decide the new rent.
But the tribunal could tell you to pay more than what your landlord asks for. Check local private rents rents before you contact them.
If you moved in before 15 January 1989
Your landlord can ask you to pay a fair rent. This is less than what most private tenants pay.
Contact the Valuation Office Agency to find out more about how to have a fair rent registered by a rent officer.
If you do not have an agricultural tenancy
You could have an assured shorthold tenancy if your landlord gave you a notice to say this is what the tenancy is before you moved in. Your landlord must give you a section 21 notice as a first step if they want to end your tenancy.
You could be a 'service occupier' if either you have to live in the property to do your job, or your employment contract says you must live there to do your job properly.
Your landlord needs to get a court order to make you leave unless you live there rent free. Find out more about service occupiers.
Your landlord does not need a court order to evict you if are a lodger in their home.
Last updated: 9 October 2023
