Tenants could be given a year-long amnesty to notify their landlords of improvements they have made to their farms if proposals being submitted to the Scottish Government’s agricultural holdings review group are backed.
Landowners’ group Scottish Land and Estates makes the suggestion in its formal response to the group’s plea for evidence.
SLE views the amnesty as an idea which would encourage movement and confidence in the let land market and bring to an end what it brands the “continuing corrosive” debate on tenants’ improvements. There was a welcome from other groups last night.
Tenants should notify their landlord of any improvements they make to their farm so that at waygo when they leave they are compensated based on the value of the improvement to the incoming tenant.
SLE said any improvement notified by a tenant during its suggested amnesty would be treated as qualifying improvements, albeit the landlord would still be able to object if it was viewed as not being reasonably required to farm the holding and maintain efficient production. There would be no compensation for grant-funded improvements, and SLE wants the legislation updated to reflect this.
Improvements would also be allowed to be notified even if they are subject to an existing writedown agreement.
SLE chief executive Douglas McAdam said its members wanted Scottish agriculture to be as successful as possible and for the tenanted sector to be vibrant.
“We believe, as many others so, there is a compelling argument for greater flexibility in the system. There is, however, a need to resolve matters that are destructive to the sector. Absolute right to buy is the most obvious but compensation for improvements is one area where we think that progress can be made for the benefit of tenants and industry in general.”
Andrew Howard, the chief executive of Moray Estates and the SLE’s representative on the Tenant Farming Forum, said the debate on compensation for improvements had gone on for too long.
“We are firm in the belief there should be fair and proper compensation for tenants’ improvements and recognise that there is a problem for farmers who have made improvements and are facing the prospect of not being compensated because they did not serve notice as they should have under the legislation. If that results in someone feeling they cannot afford to leave the tenancy, or that they have been unfairly treated, then it is in the interests of the sector for this to be addressed.”