Efforts to improve the rent review process for tenant farmers have paid off with the majority of tenants happy with the process, claim farm leaders.
Scottish Land and Estates (SLE) and the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association (STFA) made the comments in response to results from a Scottish Government survey of tenant farmers.
The survey, which received responses from 1,025 tenant farmers, was launched to gather farmers’ views on the rent review process.
It found 53% were either very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the process, while 32% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, and 15% were fairly or very dissatisfied with the process.
Other survey findings include 58% saying they were satisfied with the frequency of rent reviews, with the majority – 43% – taking place every three to five years, however 21% said they had significant disagreements with their landlords during the rent review process.
Almost half said they found the rent review process easy and 64% of tenants said they were not very familiar with or not aware of the current rent review legislation.
SLE chief executive officer, Sarah-Jane Laing, said the findings on farmer satisfaction with the rent review process showed the work of the Tenant Farming Commissioner and others was paying off.
She said: “We and other members of the Tenant Farming Advisory Forum have been working closely with the Tenant Farming Commissioner to produce a series of codes which help ensure that landlords and tenants engage in productive and amicable dialogue and provide clarity on legislation and good practice.
Ms Laing said SLE was concerned about the level of farmers who were unaware of the current rent review legislation, and more work needed to be done to inform them about the process.
“This could help ensure that tenants know exactly what to expect at each stage of the process, what’s required of them and how long the process may take,” added Ms Laing.
“This could assist in making the process for tenant farmers easier and more satisfactory.”
STFA chairman, Christopher Nicholson, said he hoped the findings from the survey would encourage policymakers to develop a “fair and workable rent test enshrined in law”.
He said: “Changes to the rent test were recommended by the Agricultural Holdings Review Group back in 2014, and now that this survey has been published we hope that tenants can look forward to the reform of our outdated rent review legislation.”
Tenant Farming Commissioner, Bob McIntosh, said: “We note that the report was published by Scottish Government and we will be discussing it with stakeholders at the Tenant Farming Advisory Forum at the end of the month.”