Tenancy changes welcomed - but more is needed

There was a general welcome yesterday for long-awaited changes in agricultural tenancy legislation after they passed through the rural affairs and environment committee of the Scottish Parliament.

Both the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association (STFA) and NFU Scotland said they believed the changes would lead to more land coming on to the letting market as well as addressing some of the anomalies in the current legislation.

The package of measures reflects the agreement reached after more than two years of discussions by industry stakeholders in the Tenant Farming Forum (TFF).

STFA chairman Angus McCall said: "The TFF has given a lead in bringing forward these measures which tackle some of the barriers to letting land by introducing greater flexibility in tenancy duration and addressing the concerns expressed by landowners regarding their responsibilities in providing fixed equipment."

NFU Scotland's policy director, Scott Walker, said he was delighted with the proposed changes of which the most significant is the reduction in the minimum length of a limited duration tenancy. The fact that a short limited duration tenancy can now, at any point in its duration, be converted to an LDT covers the gap that currently exists between the two types of tenancy."

But while both representatives accepted that, within the remaining timescale of this parliament, it was not possible to include all the changes they wanted to see, they did not wish these to be forgotten about.

McCall said "the job is not yet finished". He wanted to see a proposal to allow grandchildren to succeed grandparents into the family farm which had had to be omitted for technical reasons and also a move from the present position of rents only being able to be negotiated upward and then only at the instigation of the landlord.

He also criticised the current method of reviewing rents, calling them outmoded, complex and causing unnecessary disputes which, if they were not resolved amicably, resulted in lengthy, time consuming and expensive Land Court cases.

"STFA has been working towards the re-introduction of a simpler arbitration process but legislative change is needed to simplify rent review rules and reduce the scope for disagreement."It is imperative that these matters be addressed in the next parliamentary session."

Walker confirmed the NFUS would also continue to press for these matters to be taken forward.

The changes were also welcomed by Andrew Aitchison, partner in charge of land management at Strutt & Parker's Edinburgh office, who described them as a patch on some of the farming industry's problems.

"Significantly, it will mean that landowners and tenants can now agree fixed-term lets and lease extensions of between five and ten years which the industry has been crying out for since the new short and limited duration tenancies were introduced back in 2003."

He also was also supportive of more work being carried out in solving problems with existing legislation. "While the proposed reforms will remove some of the most significant impediments to letting land created by the 2003 Act, this remains a very complex area of law which remains in need of further consolidation."