One of Scotland’s leading agricultural lawyers has warned the rural sector needs to be prepared for a raft of changes coming its way in 2015.
"There is perhaps a natural tendency for politicians of all parties to turn to legislation to try to cure problems but there are many instances where new laws do not achieve the intended result," said Colin Clark, an agricultural law specialist.
"Well-considered and well-drafted legislation introduced after taking account of representations made is much more likely to achieve the desired outcome which is to everyone’s benefit. With the raft of legislation coming our way in the near future, I am sure there will be a feeling in the sector that the saying ‘less is more’ is one we would hope our legislators bear in mind.”
Registration of Title procedures
Introduced in December 2014, the aim is to have all land in Scotland registered within 10 years so there will be plans included in the publically-accessible Registers of Scotland in Edinburgh showing who owns every part of Scotland.
“Once finalised, this register will be very helpful. However, there will be additional cost for many of those owning farms and estates and the 10 year target period seems very ambitious. For many years properties which have been bought or sold (the first compulsory registration of title was introduced in 1979) have had to be registered by reference to an accurate plan but there is a still a huge amount of land which has not been bought or sold in that 35-year period and remains unregistered.
“The new procedures are designed to force all owners to register their land to an accurate plan. This can be a complicated and time-consuming process and therefore potentially expensive. It may be worth discussing this with a legal advisor and beginning the process sooner rather than later.”
Short Assured Tenancies
Changes are also in the pipeline for the laws surrounding house leases. Many landlords and tenants are familiar with Short Assured Tenancy leases. These have to last for at least six months and at the end of that period the landlord is able to reclaim the house if they want.
“This is a flexible system which has generally worked well for many years but there is a feeling that tenants do not have sufficient security of tenure. For example families may find it difficult to book a place in a particular school if they do not have the lease guaranteed into a new school term.
“One proposal is to remove a landlord’s automatic right to end the tenancy when the original tenancy period expires and limit the other grounds for repossession. It may be a landlord can only get a house back if they want to sell, live in or refurbish it; change its use; or if there is three months’ rent due or if another term of the tenancy has been breached.
“There will be a transition period but these changes, if introduced, will affect all domestic tenancies and it is worth tracking the situation.”
Land Reform
One of the most talked-about areas in the agricultural sector has been around Land Reform with Scottish Government proposals open for consultation until 10th February.
“The Government’s aim is to address barriers to sustainable development, diversify patterns of land ownership and ensure land is an asset which benefits the many not the few. While a common assumption is that this is only likely to affect large landowners and estates, there is no reason to assume it will not impact smaller owners and farmers as well. Therefore it is imperative the sector as a whole shares its views during this consultation process through the Scottish Government’s website.
“With major changes proposed to Succession Law and Agricultural Holdings legislation and the introduction of Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in April there are a lot of new areas of law and financial affairs for people to be aware of and consider in the next year to 15 months.”
