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09/06/2009 12:01:04
Farm tenants benefit by working together
The Tenant Farmers Association will be using its presence at this year’s Cereals Event to encourage farm tenants on the same estate to co-operate in their negotiations with their landlords on rent reviews.
The TFA seeks to support the landlord tenant system in agriculture and to promote good working relationships between tenants and landlords. Often this is achieved by tenants coming together to ensure that they take a united stance on important issues like rent reviews. A good example of where this has worked recently is on the Church Commission estate. The TFA has been helping facilitate a group of farm tenants on the Church’s estate in West Sussex in working together to negotiate the review of their farm rents.
In 2007 the agents for the Church Commission served rent review notices on many of its tenants. A significant proportion of these notices were aimed at effecting rent changes from autumn 2008. However, by the time the rent reviews were supposed to have been settled, newly appointed agents for the Church Commission had only managed to issue proposals in a handful of cases.
TFA National Chairman Greg Bliss said, "The big problem was that in the handful of cases where proposals had been issued by the Church’s new agents, the levels of rent being sought were unsustainably high. In one case, the agents were suggesting a rent increase for an arable farm amounting to a 300% uplift from around £60 per acre to £180 per acre. Whilst such increases were always going to be unachievable, its was no surprise that tenants on the estate were both worried and angered by what had been proposed".
With assistance from the TFA, the tenants decided to work together on their negotiations with the Church’s agents and appointed their own single agent, Simon Lush from Henry Adams in Chichester.
"Through dogged determination, reasoned argument and a unified approach, these tenants managed to settle their rents at much more reasonable levels than were proposed by the Church’s agents. I believe that this should serve as a model to other tenants on estates elsewhere. The best results are achieved where tenants on the same estate stick together and employ the same agent to negotiate on their behalf. The TFA has been helping to support a number of groups on that basis and would be happy to support more" said Mr Bliss.
The TFA seeks to support the landlord tenant system in agriculture and to promote good working relationships between tenants and landlords. Often this is achieved by tenants coming together to ensure that they take a united stance on important issues like rent reviews. A good example of where this has worked recently is on the Church Commission estate. The TFA has been helping facilitate a group of farm tenants on the Church’s estate in West Sussex in working together to negotiate the review of their farm rents.
In 2007 the agents for the Church Commission served rent review notices on many of its tenants. A significant proportion of these notices were aimed at effecting rent changes from autumn 2008. However, by the time the rent reviews were supposed to have been settled, newly appointed agents for the Church Commission had only managed to issue proposals in a handful of cases.
TFA National Chairman Greg Bliss said, "The big problem was that in the handful of cases where proposals had been issued by the Church’s new agents, the levels of rent being sought were unsustainably high. In one case, the agents were suggesting a rent increase for an arable farm amounting to a 300% uplift from around £60 per acre to £180 per acre. Whilst such increases were always going to be unachievable, its was no surprise that tenants on the estate were both worried and angered by what had been proposed".
With assistance from the TFA, the tenants decided to work together on their negotiations with the Church’s agents and appointed their own single agent, Simon Lush from Henry Adams in Chichester.
"Through dogged determination, reasoned argument and a unified approach, these tenants managed to settle their rents at much more reasonable levels than were proposed by the Church’s agents. I believe that this should serve as a model to other tenants on estates elsewhere. The best results are achieved where tenants on the same estate stick together and employ the same agent to negotiate on their behalf. The TFA has been helping to support a number of groups on that basis and would be happy to support more" said Mr Bliss.
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