A Statement by the South Tyrolean Association of Real Estate Agents on the Legislative Amendment of June 2025
(Provincial Law No. 6 of 17 June 2025)
Since June 2025, a hereditary farm (geschlossener Hof) may only be purchased with the approval of the Farm Commission. Provincial Councillor Luis Walcher describes this as a “clear stand against speculation and the sell-off of our homeland.”
The reality, however, is different: this provision does not protect hereditary farms. Instead, it devalues the property of thousands of farming families by drastically reducing the number of potential buyers. In the long term, this may result in numerous farms no longer being cultivated and ultimately falling into disrepair.
Drastic Devaluation of All Hereditary Farms
A hereditary farm is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. This is precisely where the new law intervenes: only a narrowly defined group of people is now permitted to purchase such farms, subject to the Farm Commission verifying whether the required criteria are met.
This barrier significantly reduces the number of potential buyers. As a result, market prices inevitably fall. Fewer buyers mean lower values – it is as simple as that.
This devaluation does not affect only individual farms; it affects all hereditary farms in South Tyrol at once. The loss in value is not merely a prediction – it is already taking place. Since the legislative amendment came into force, hereditary farms have been valued at lower levels, which will also make bank financing increasingly difficult.
Even Farmers’ Children May Not Meet the Requirements
The new regulation makes the purchase of a hereditary farm subject to specific personal requirements. The buyer must demonstrate agricultural activity and possess the necessary qualifications, such as a relevant university degree, diploma or completion of the young farmers’ training course.
This is precisely where the problem arises: the reality of many South Tyrolean mountain farms does not correspond to the model of a traditional full-time agricultural business. Numerous farms are operated on a part-time basis. The children regularly help with the management and cultivation of the farm but are often not formally registered as farmers themselves and therefore do not meet the required formal criteria.
As a result, even people who have been actively involved in farming for years and have a close connection to agriculture may be excluded from purchasing a hereditary farm.
The Alleged Sell-Off
This far-reaching restriction is justified by claims of an alleged sell-off of hereditary farms to buyers from outside the province. To date, however, no evidence has been presented to demonstrate that such a widespread phenomenon actually exists.
Instead, reference is made to individual sales in particularly attractive tourist destinations, while the vast majority of hereditary farms remain in the ownership of South Tyrolean families.
Such a significant interference with the constitutionally protected right to property should not be justified on the basis of isolated cases.
Amend the Law Before It Is Too Late
The objective of protecting hereditary farms is the right one. However, the latest legislative amendment risks achieving precisely the opposite.
The ones ultimately bearing the consequences are the farmers themselves: their farms lose value and their creditworthiness declines.
Provincial policymakers must correct this development now – before the very mountain farms they intended to preserve are the ones that disappear.
Dr. Andrè-Benedict Niederkofler
Secretary of the South Tyrolean Association of Real Estate Agents