Yesterday, Scottish ministers made further amendments to the controversial land reform bill, which is moving through parliament, much to the displeasure of landowners’ lobby groups.

On Wednesday, Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead announced that the changes are “strengthening an already radical bill,” following debates in Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee.

Of the elements up for debate on Wednesday, one that has attracted the ire of landowners is the introduction of a new process for tenants to sell or assign their tenancy where ageing farmers do not have direct successor. Tenants’ groups and government officials have said that assurances have been made to landowners, and that landowners will have first refusal on tenancies before they are assigned or tendered.

The government also looked another measures, including extending the amnesty period from 2 to 3 years, giving tenants longer to register improvements they have carried out which they don’t have records for, to make sure those improvements can be eligible for compensation at waygo, and adding a code on land agents to the list of Tenant Farming Commissioner’s codes.

The amendments were passed by the committee after a vote. This week’s amendments come after a number of others were agreed on last month.

Landowners’ group Scottish Land and Estates has said the proposals will damage the tenant farming sector and “fail to strike the right balance of property rights for landowners and farmers.”

The group has repeatedly warned that the government’s land reform plans, which aim to improve communities’ access to and management of land in Scotland, risk breaching human rights rules on property (these include plans to force landlords’ hands where they are deemed to be standing in the way of sustainable development by refusing to sell certain parcels of land to community groups).

David Johnstone, chair of Scottish Land and Estates, said, “Landlords want to let land on a long term basis but it is being made as unattractive as possible. It feels very much as though legitimate farming businesses are being legislated against in the name of radical land reform, rather than what is best for agriculture.

“The assignation proposals today will mean that many secure tenancies will be perpetuated, effectively further denying the owner access to his own property. A great many landlords are small scale businesses with one or two let farms and will not be in a position to buy out tenancies. We would appeal to the Scottish Government to take heed of these concerns in the final stage discussions on the Bill.”

However, tenant farmers have welcomed the changes. At the end of January, after the last round of amendments were agreed, the Tenant Farmers Association Scotland dismissed landowners’ warnings as “hysterical scaremongering.”

In January, TFA Scotland chair Christopher Nicholson said, “Short-termism has dominated the letting market over the last 20 years as landlords maximise rental and subsidy income. This proposal is not the eleventh hour knee jerk reaction to SNP grassroots pressure that landlords would like to think it is, but one that has months of thought and checking for ECHR compliance behind it, and follows a recommendation by the RACCE committee in May 2015.”

On Wednesday, Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead, said, “These amendments enhance the Land Reform Bill and include important measures that will… deliver a fairer balance of rights between those that own the land and those that work and depend on the land.

“A strong package of measures is now being boosted further by amendments, including changes to introduce repairing leases to get poor land up to a productive standard and arrangements for farmers who wish to move on from their farming tenancy in a managed and secure way.

“I am confident this will ensure the bill delivers important changes and protections that benefit our tenant farmers and the tenant farming sector as a whole. I will continue to listen to any further suggestions and take action where needed across our wider package of land reform measures to deliver the most ambitious package of changes possible over the longer term.”