Nicola Sturgeon

[Mac M3]

Know of plenty estates and retiring farmers who rented out their ground up til the announcement of right to buy but since then it’s all been contract farming arrangements,

 

[Nithsdale]

All kept in hand. Grass parks became the in thing in my area back in the 90's - we've been renting ours 25 years because we couldn't get a tenancy anywhere to expand. Right to Buy has changed nothing in D&G... other than giving big security to pre'91 tenants

 

[Mac M3]

Hopefully you will get something more secure yet

 

[it's not over]

Can someone explain the right to buy

 

[Nithsdale]

Can someone explain the right to buy

Right to Buy was just 1 part of the Scotland Land Reform Act 2003 (Labour/LibDem govt.)

Old style pre-1991 tenancies were typically time limited to 3-generations. The above Act ended the time limit and now means these tenancies run indefinitely - so long as it can be passed on to a direct family descendant.
If the tenant can not pass the tenancy on, or decides to retire, the landlord has to buy the tenancy back (typically 50-60% of the market value of the farm). If the landlord wants to end the tenancy he has to effectively buy the farm off the tenant (the sky is the limit with this value, it is almost always above full market value of the farm).


The sitting tenant at the time the Act was passed had to register their Right to Buy. But, the Right to Buy only applies if the landlord decides to sell - the tenant has first refusal to buy their farm (and only their farm). It only applies to these pre-'91 tenancies. Modern Short duration tenancies are not affected in any way but the right to buy is touted as an excuse why no tenancies come to the market. It is not an Absolute Right To Buy.

 

[Pasty]

Sounds like daylight robbery to me.

 

[toquark]

Tenancies are becoming rarer both sides of the border but there’s no question the land reform 2003 act exacerbated the problem.
@Nithsdale Farmer accurately lays out the ins and outs of it. Why any landowner would get into the business of renting land on any more than a grass keep is beyond me. The reality is they don’t and the available land to rent and the quality of land which does come up has plummeted.

It was a classic case of the law of unintended consequences; an act designed to help tenants (and annoy landlords) ends up benefitting the landlords when they get their land back and screwing potential next gen tenants.

 

[it's not over]

Right to Buy was just 1 part of the Scotland Land Reform Act 2003 (Labour/LibDem govt.)

Old style pre-1991 tenancies were typically time limited to 3-generations. The above Act ended the time limit and now means these tenancies run indefinitely - so long as it can be passed on to a direct family descendant.
If the tenant can not pass the tenancy on, or decides to retire, the landlord has to buy the tenancy back (typically 50-60% of the market value of the farm). If the landlord wants to end the tenancy he has to effectively buy the farm off the tenant (the sky is the limit with this value, it is almost always above full market value of the farm).


The sitting tenant at the time the Act was passed had to register their Right to Buy. But, the Right to Buy only applies if the landlord decides to sell - the tenant has first refusal to buy their farm (and only their farm). It only applies to these pre-'91 tenancies. Modern Short duration tenancies are not affected in any way but the right to buy is touted as an excuse why no tenancies come to the market. It is not an Absolute Right To Buy.

Interesting. I can still remember my father paying land annuities in the 70s. Land reform and tenant rights in Ireland were changed in the 19th century. One day he said he was paying them no more,the end

 

[Nithsdale]

Sounds like daylight robbery to me.

It was an attempt to stop land owners ending tenancies with no given reason - after generations of upkeep of the land, steading and in some cases the house by the tenant with 0 input from the landlord. At termination of the tenancy there was no payment to the tenants for their improvements, either. Thankfully through the reform this no longer happens.

It was all out of balance.

The "Highland Clearances" have never stopped happening - and it wasn't just the Highlands they were happening in. It is still happening today, but the Land Reform Act slowed it - an attempt at keeping people on the land, trying to keep the rural economy alive.

New tenancies are rare anywhere in the UK so I can't see how Holyrood is to blame for that. But I'm not sure if I agree with all of the Reform Act. Before it was passed, there was industry wide consent something had to be done to protect tenants

 

[Mac M3]

Certainly Highland clearances for livestock levels,Not of people but that’s economic not political
The great economic driver over west now is tourisim,also a lot of folk moving there to retire from all over the UK.