Red tape keeps Scottish rent rises to 15%

A SURVEY of farm rental increases last year throughout England, Scotland and Wales has shown an average rise of 25 per cent, but when only those in Scotland are considered, the rise has been in the order of 15 per cent.

The survey carried out by land agents Smiths Gore covers the 12 months to 31 October, 2011, and includes 36 rent reviews in Scotland over 17,000 acres.

Robert Gladstone attributed the lower rent increases in Scotland when compared with the rest of the country to “the current lack of a workable system for the resolution of disputes”.

He continued: “Applications to the Land Court are unpredictable, expensive and slow – and both landlords and tenants have been more inclined to avoid litigation and agree a rent than to resort to the Land Court.”

Gladstone added that it would be interesting to see next year whether the impact of high- profile disputes, such as the one at Moonzie, would filter through into reviews. He also thought the continued scrutiny of the 2003 Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act might play a part in prospects for future reviews going forward.

Other data from the survey show the average rise in rents from 2009-2011 in Scotland as 15 per cent. This covers 187 reviews carried out over 91,990 acres.

Surprisingly, livestock rents showed the biggest increase in Scotland from 2010 to 2011 at 18 per cent – equating to a rise from £21 to £24 per acre.