For many, going to the land is visiting the place where they have their roots; for others, going to the land is going to work for a cultural unit.
ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY THE PORTUGUESE TIMES NEWSPAPER
Both expressions have the common denominator of a person’s emotional attachment to a particular space.
The links established between a person and a property are often difficult to quantify, especially when it comes to attributing value to them in any form of income, whether when selling or renting.
The legal regime for rural rentals in the Autonomous Region of the Azores – Regional Legislative Decree no. 29/2008/A of July 24 – establishes and sets the indicative table of rents and also the factor for updating them, both for the agricultural year beginning on November 1st.
However, the values that are practiced are the values that the market dictates, in the name of the principle of contractual freedom. In other words, despite the fact that the indicative rental values for leases of rustic buildings for agricultural purposes have been regulated,
taking into account the different nature of the land, its capacity for use, its location and any other relevant factors, namely whether it adjoins a public road and whether it is served by basic sanitation, the parties are free to set the rents.
Experience has shown that these are values that can’t be disputed, they are part of a code of conduct practiced by those involved in this area of business, to which is added the emotional value of the property on the part of the owners and the usefulness of the land for their farming on the part of the tenants. And this natural code of conduct is also very expressive at the time of sale.
My selective memory tells me of moments spent with those represented, after the deeds of transfer had been granted, in which the owners recorded that moment as the end of a cycle in the family’s history.
In others, bodily expression merges with verbal expression and emotion makes up the bouquet: ” … we worked so hard to pay for that land … it was today that we buried our parents … the land with the oranges was still sold cheaply … that land is worth more because the procession passes in front of it … “.
The perception that family history is indelibly linked to the environment in which it is lived is therefore consistent, and there is an interaction with the properties that are the owners and legitimate owners.
For this reason, it is often difficult for lawyers to find a balance between these two values: the real value of the property and the value attributed to it by the family.
Common sense is a good advisor.
Judith Teodoro,
Lawyer
