Land and farms for sale in Borj El Amri

Some thirty kilometres from Tunis along the GP5 or the A3 motorway, Borj El Amri is the point where the suburbs stop and the Medjerda plain begins. The soil here is heavy, good for wheat and olives, irrigated in places thanks to boreholes and the canals of the public scheme. That draws two kinds of buyer: the farmer expanding his holding, and the city dweller who wants a weekend farm less than an hour from the capital.

On houni.tn, the listings for land and farms in Borj El Amri are posted by the owners themselves, often heirs, and by a few agencies in Manouba. To widen the search to Djedeida, Tebourba or Mornaguia, the page on land and farms for sale in Manouba covers the whole governorate.

Not everything is sold by the hectare

The listings mix things that have little to do with one another. Bare land, sold by the hectare, dry or irrigated: unirrigated farmland in Borj El Amri, planted with olives or not, generally goes for 25,000 to 45,000 TND a hectare, while irrigated land with an equipped borehole can pass 80,000 TND. Then the working farm, with a caretaker's house, a shed, a well and a few hundred olive trees, often 3 to 10 hectares, bought as much for weekends as for farming. And finally the 1,000 to 2,000 sqm plots along the GP5, which buyers hope will one day be rezoned for building; that is a bet, and it is already priced in.

An olive grove in Manouba with mature trees costs more than bare land, but the difference is soon recovered: in a good year, a hectare of well tended olives brings in enough to cover the upkeep and a little more.

The blue title, the condition for everything else

In this delegation, a significant share of the land is still jointly held between heirs or owned under old unregistered deeds. Land in Borj El Amri with a blue title deed (titre bleu), meaning it is registered at the land registry under an individual title, is worth 20 to 40 percent more than an equivalent parcel sold on a simple notarial deed, and the bank will only finance the former. Before agreeing anything, ask for the title number, obtain a recent certificate of ownership, and check that the area on the title matches the area you are shown on the ground, since discrepancies are common after successive divisions.

Two further points specific to farmland: a foreign national cannot buy agricultural land in Tunisia, only lease it on a long term basis, and land inside a public irrigation scheme carries development obligations worth understanding before you buy.

Where to buy within the delegation

Along the GP5 and near the motorway junction, land is the most sought after because access is immediate and Tunis is forty minutes away. Towards the north, in the direction of Tebourba and the Medjerda, the boreholes yield better and market gardening takes over from olives. To the south and west, at the foot of the hills, the soil is drier, prices lower and plots larger: that is where a 10 hectare farm in Borj El Amri is still affordable.

Visit in February, when the ground is saturated. A parcel that still holds puddles two days after rain drains badly, and you will not see that in July.

A weekend farm: what to look at

Those hunting for a farm in Manouba for the family rather than for production look first at the access road, the STEG electricity supply reaching the house, and the water: a well that yields in April can be dry in August. Check too that the existing house is declared; on agricultural land a building permit is granted only under strict conditions, and an unregularised building is hard to sell on.