A series of recommendations to the Scottish government from a group led by Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead have made waves this week.

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Organisations representing Scotland's landowners have maligned Lochhead's recommendations for reform of farm tenancies in the country, which are aimed at strengthening the position of tenants and helping farmers "escape the clutches of bad landlords."

Some of the 49 recommendations made by Lochhead's review group include the creation of a Tenant Farming Commissioner, delivering more opportunities for apprenticeships and forging new types of farm tenancy.

The Rural Affairs Secretary was tasked with looking into tenancies to inform the Scottish Government following a review of Agricultural Holdings Legislation. Other recommendations for the Scottish Government include:

• enabling 1991 Act tenants to apply to the Scottish Land Court to force the sale of the holding where a landlord does not meet their obligations;
• measures to widen succession rights for 1991 Act tenants, so more family members are eligible to take up tenancies;
• improving how rents are set;
• creating the potential for apprenticeship opportunities for new entrants; and
• providing long term and flexible letting vehicles to encourage the release of more land into tenancy.

Mr Lochhead commented, "Tenant farming is vital to the agricultural economy and sustaining our rural communities. Having a farm tenancy is often the gateway to career in farming. But despite previous efforts to improve the industry, the amount of tenanted agricultural land in Scotland continues to fall – almost halving in the past 30 years – and we are in danger of closing the door on future generations of farmers unless we act.

He admitted the recommendations are "Radical", but said that moves are desperately needed to "revitalise" the sector. He said, "Some of these proposals relate to right to buy and are intended to provide tenants with a solution to escape the clutches of bad landlords – but for the vast majority of landlords, who have positive relationships with their tenants, these recommendations will pose no threat."

The Rural Affairs secretary assured that his review process had taken into account the views of industry bodies, tenant farmers and landowners from across Scotland. He concluded, "I am confident this report is the turning point for tenant farming and Scottish agriculture, and I hope it will instil confidence and enable those working in the sector to strengthen relationships and build a strong future together."

Landowners react

Despite Mr Lochhead's assurances, Scottish Lands and Estates, which represents landowners, reacted strongly to the recommendations of the review group.

The landowners' interest group expressed relief that the government reviewers rejected calls to give tenants an absolute right to buy.

However, Scottish Land and Estates' chair David Johnstone claimed, "We… deeply regret that the Scottish Government seems set on a course that could leave it open to very substantial compensation claims because of the damage to a landowner's property rights, through the conversion of secure tenancies and the substantive widening of succession rights."

Johnstone claimed that some recommendations, including calls to lengthen some tenancies to a minimum of 35 years, could impinge on landowners' property rights, leading them to sue.

Refering to landowners' rights in its report, the government group did acknowledge that in some cases recommendations may mean compensation has to be paid out. Even so, the group stated, "A fair balance has to be struck between what is in the wider public interest and the protection of the individual's rights," and added that the European Convention on Human Rights, "Accepts that the state may deprive a person of their property [if doing so is deemed to be] in the general or public interest."

Scotland's tenant farmers welcomed the review group's report this week, in spite of the landowners' warnings. The Scottish Tenant Farmers Association welcomed the report as "A turning point" which has the potential to strengthen the rights of existing tenants, encourage landlords to rent out land, create opportunities for new entrants and rectify some legislative anomalies. 

STFA Chair Christopher Nicholson commented, "This report was never going to please everyone, but it has made a significant effort to respond to the concerns raised during the consultation process and its conclusions will be received warmly by most tenant farmers.  However, the report will not give much comfort to the 400 or so tenants who are still involved in Limited Partnership tenancies."

Nicholson continued, "The tenanted sector has suffered badly over the last few decades with declining relationships between landlord and tenant which have resulted in some high profile disputes and many low profile areas of dissatisfaction.  The creation of a Tenant Farming Commissioner with powers to establish and regulate codes of practice is a welcome initiative and its statutory basis will be key to the success of many of the Review Group's proposals." 

Even so, Nicholson said many tenants will be disappointed at the review group's decision to propose powers to force the sale of a tenanted farm, if there is evidence of "material breach of contract" on the part of the landlord, rather than introducing a more general right to buy. The STFA spokesperson added that the Association will hold a series of member meetings over the coming weeks to update Scotland's tenant farmers on the report's implications.

He added, "It is imperative that the 49 recommendations in the report are treated as a package and not as a 'pick and mix', and are dealt with as soon as possible as part of the Land Reform legislation. 

"There is a real fear in the tenant farming community that there will be pressure to deal with agricultural holdings legislation as a stand-alone bill and/or consider some of the more controversial measures at a later date.  This will inevitably lead to the bill being postponed to the next parliamentary session and many of its proposals kicked into the long grass.  This is too important a bill to be delayed or become a political football."