Agricultural Holdings Bill - Consultation - Now Closed
The Scottish Government is proposing to amend current legislation governing agricultural leasing arrangements between landlords and their tenant farmers in Scotland. These measures could not be made using the powers in the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 and are therefore subject of a Bill. The proposed measures are:
- To extend the definition of "near relative" (being the class of successors who are entitled to serve counter notice to a notice to quit) to include a grandchild of a deceased tenant;
- To prohibit lease terms which provide for "upward only" or "landlord only initiated" rent reviews in Limited Duration tenancies ; and
- To provide that changes in rent resulting from the exercise or revocation of the option to tax by a landlord, or a change in the rate of VAT do not qualify as a "variation of rent" such as would prevent parties from seeking a determination from the Land Court on the rent for a period of three years.
The aim of these proposals is to remove barriers in the letting of farm land; provide the tenant farming sector of the industry with a greater level of security; and provide a greater level of confidence in the working relationships between a landlord and their tenant farmer, thus improving the availability of letting farm land in the agricultural tenant farming market.
A consultation on these proposals ran from March 22 to June 30 2011
Previous Consultations
Further Short Consultation
In response to a suggestion from the first consultation, further amendments to the original draft order have been made and a further short consultation was required.
Proposed Amendment to Agricultural Holdings
The Scottish Government proposes to amend the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Acts of 1991 and 2003 for the purpose of removing or reducing burdens currently borne by landlords and tenants of agricultural tenancies as a result of the legislation.
The main changes to legislation focus around removing restrictions on the availability of the letting of land, with a view to encouraging the release of more agricultural land onto the agricultural lettings market and providing opportunities for new entrants into the farming sector.
The other amendments seek to remove ambiguity from the legislation with a view to reducing the potential for dispute.
A consultation was held on these proposed amendments in October/November 2010. The responses to this consultation have been published and are currently being analysed.