Jul 20 2013
FREEDOM OF CONTRACT A RECIPE FOR DISASTER
FREEDOM OF CONTRACT A RECIPE FOR DISASTER
The Scottish Tenant Farmers Association has branded landlord plans to deregulate farm tenancies as a recipe for disaster. Yesterday, ScottishLand and Estates unveiled its future vision for the tenanted sector recommending the introduction of freedom of contract in the letting of new tenancies.
Condemning the proposals, STFA chairman Christopher Nicholson said: “Yet again SL&E have resurrected the old freedom of contract chestnut in their long-standing attempt to wind back the clock sixty years to the 1948 Act when tenants were granted security of tenure. Freedom of contract will only work where there is a balance of supply and demand as in the commercial world. As long as Scotland retains its current concentrated structure of landownership the rented sector will require protective legislation.
“Furthermore, it is disingenuous to suggest that the introduction of freedom of contract will be of any benefit to new entrants when the reality is that the only beneficiaries will be existing farmers prepared to offer inflated rents for short term arrangements. New entrants will not have any more of a look-in than they do at present. The advent of Farm Business Tenancies in England has shown that apart from County Council Holdings, opportunities for new entrants are just as limited as in Scotland, with some FBT rents achieving in excess of £200/ac. In addition the market driven rental process in Scotland would see rents for existing tenants soar severely damaging the viability of many farming businesses.
“We, in the tenanted sector, have bent over backwards in agreeing to legislative change which landlords have said would encourage more land to be let. Tenancy terms have been made more flexible and fixed equipment rules have been relaxed but still the tenanted sector shrinks with very little land offered for rent. It is no wonder that the industry shares Mr Lochhead’s frustration. This latest piece of propaganda by SL&E will convince no one.”