Scotland’s tenant farming sector will only thrive if the proposed absolute right to buy (ARTB) is knocked on its head, according to a group of farmers and landlords in the north-east.
The North East Landowners and Tenants Forum, which formed in February this year and comprises landlords, owner-occupier farmers, tenants and new entrants, made the plea in their submission to the government’s agricultural holdings legislation review group this week.
“To get the tenancy system to work, we have to get the ARTB away. As long as that’s there we cannot get the confidence with landlords to let land,” said forum chair Tom Johnston, a tenant farmer with a secure tenancy at Cottown Farm, Drumblade, Huntly.
“It could do more damage than good – if I was an owner of land myself I would understand why they [landlords] are worried about letting land.
“I think the ARTB has not been very well thought out because just a small percentage of tenants could afford to buy their farm and actually keep farming it.”
He said it was crucial the review group – set up by government to draw up an action plan to breath life into Scotland’s tenant farming sector – came up with a good plan for the sector.
Mr Johnston added: “I think we could kill off the tenant sector all together if we get a wrong answer with the debate this year.”
In its submission to the review group, the forum calls for the government to help retiring entrants at assignation – when a secure tenancy is ended – and new entrants coming into a tenancy or moving on to a different tenanted holding.
The group says financial packages – or new entrant facilitator payments – could be created with Pillar 2 Cap funding – it suggests senior exiting tenants should be offered between £30,000 and £40,000, while new entrants should be given between £60,000 and £70,000.
Mr Johnston said the group opposed calls for new entrants to pay retiring tenants at assignation.
“We don’t want to put an unnecessary burden on the guy that’s coming in. We think it would be unfair to ask them to pay the exiting tenant out,” he said.
The group said the only way Scotland will have a thriving tenant farming sector is by developing an environment where someone that owns land feels comfortable with someone who wants to rent it.
“We have to accept that there are some bad relationships out there but there are far more good relationships and what we are trying to say is that it does work if the landlord and the tenant work in a business partnership,” said Mr Johnston.
“I think we have got entrenched in arguments that are not doing anyone any good.
“I’m a firm believer in the tenanted sector because that’s how I got started in farming.
“For many aspiring young farmers it’s the only route to take to get into farming and it would be a real shame if the sector stagnates like it has.”
Forum members include NFU Scotland north-east regional chairman Roddy Catto, Finzean Estate partner and working manager Andrew Farquaharson, tenant farmer Ian Wilson and Dunecht Estates chief executive Stuart Young.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The Ministerial-led Review of Agricultural Holdings Legislation is currently seeking views on all aspects of tenant farming in Scotland.
“This submission will be considered by the review group as part of its deliberations into how to create the conditions for a vibrant tenant farming sector to get the best from our land and the people farming it.
“The Group is keen to hear from as many people as possible ahead of the publication of its interim report in June this year.”