21 December 2015

The Land Reform Bill continues to be the focus of attention and criticism most recently centred on the rights of tenant farmers.

The Bill, in its current form, includes the introduction of the following provisions:

• Extension of succession rights
• Creation of a Tenant Farming Commissioner
• Amendment of current rent review provisions, including the introduction of a productive capacity element
• Replacement of Limited Duration Tenancies with Modern Limited Duration Tenancies.

Some have criticised the Bill for not going far enough in improving the rights of tenant farmers and, for example, are demanding that provisions be inserted which give tenant farmers an absolute right to buy. Many landowners, on the other hand, are concerned that their own rights are potentially being unreasonably diminished.

In a recent court case, a farming family in East Lothian was required to leave the farm that they have worked for over 22 years. This, followed a decision by the Supreme Court where legislation which allowed limited partnership tenancies to be upgraded to secure tenancies was held to be incompatible with landlords’ human rights. Critics of the Land Reform Bill believe that giving tenant farmers an absolute right to buy would prevent this kind of situation arising in the future. However, many others in the agricultural sector fear the negative impact that an absolute right to buy would have longer term on both landlords and tenant farmers.

The Bill is currently at Stage 1: the evidence-gathering stage. Early in 2016, the lead committee will undertake detailed consideration of the Bill, which could result in significant revisals to the current proposals, depending on evidence received. We aim to keep you updated as the Bill progresses.

A summary of the Bill's main provisions: click here.

David Gibson Partner dbg@bto.co.uk T: 0141 221 8012