Landlords defend Scots tenant farm system

Yesterday’s Scotsman carried a comment piece on whether farm tenancies were appropriate for the rural priorities of the 21st century.

This provoked a strong reaction from David Johnstone, who owns Annandale Estate near Moffat and who also chairs the large estate group of the Scottish Land and Estates organisation.

“We fundamentally believe that the tenanted sector still has an important role to play in farming,” he said. “Apart from any other aspect, it allows those who do not have access to large amounts of money the opportunity to get into the industry.”

He estimated that in his part of the country, a tenant farmer could get into farming with only 1 per cent of the capital needed by an owner occupier.

Currently there are an estimated 4,000 farm tenants in Scotland and he believed that the vast majority of them were content with the current system.

“Very few disputes between landlord and tenant end up in the Land Court, most issues are settled amicably.” He also praised the work of the Tenant Farming Forum as a vehicle for helping resolve issues between landowners and tenants.

Wherever possible, he said, modern landlords were helping existing tenants increase their farm sizes by taking over leases of those leaving estates and then letting the property to existing tenants.

Sometimes when this happened farm houses and buildings were left derelict but there could be many reasons for this ranging from something seemingly simple but possibly very expensive such as a getting a proper water supply. It could also be down to a lack of cash, a position not unique to landowners. “I know a number of privately owned properties lying empty at the present moment.”

Johnstone rejected the suggestion that tenancies did not allow investment in new buildings that were now needed for specialist sectors in farming such as dairying and growing crops.

The current wave of enthusiasm for renewable energy did not exclude farm tenants, he claimed, saying that it was up to individuals to work with their landlords if they felt there was an opportunity for such a diversification.

The problem with developing any renewable energy project had far more to do with the planning system.