R&A is the hot topic in the countryside. What is it?

For landowners and tenant farmers, this spring brought important legal changes on how to ‘relinquish’ (or surrender) a secure tenancy

Say ‘R&A’ to many people in Scotland (and beyond) and they’ll assume you are talking about golf. But for landowners, farmers and would-be farmers north of the border, ‘R&A’ currently has a more important meaning: relinquishment and assignation.

The phrase may sound arcane, but it’s a long-awaited legal development affecting tenant farmers and landowners. Specifically, it provides clarity for tenants who are seeking to exit farming or retire – an important consideration when over a third of farmers in Scotland are aged over 65. The new regulations may also provide opportunities for people seeking a way into farming.

The new rules

The new regulations on R&A came into force at the end of February and stem from the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016. Briefly, they provide rules and processes for tenants to offer to sell a secure tenancy back to their landlord, including:

• how tenants give notice of this
• how compensation is calculated
• what happens if the landlord declines the offer
• timelines they need to follow.

Practical approaches

As with any new law, there will be continuing comment and debate about some of the finer points of the regulations, but on a general, practical level, the key point for all involved is that tenants and landlords still have the right to negotiate relinquishment of a secure tenancy outside the new provisions.

The existence of a statutory ‘fall back’ position may certainly help to move things along, and the new statutory process offers useful guidance in these discussions and negotiations, but both tenants and landlords may benefit from keeping some flexibility around outcomes and timelines. This remains a highly specialised area, where you want advice from people who understand the terrain.

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