Scottish farm tenants urged to mention concerns to landlords

Agricultural tenants are being urged to use the waygo code
Agricultural tenants are being urged to use the waygo code

Agricultural tenants in Scotland are being urged to explain to their landlords of any improvements that might been notifying.

NFU Scotland and Crown Estate Scotland are urging agricultural tenants to be aware of the waygo amnesty for tenants’ improvements, and to consider if they have improvements which need to be notified.

To encourage uptake of the amnesty and raise awareness, Crown Estate Scotland’s Head of Property Andy Wells is writing to all agricultural tenants with a copy of the accompanying Code.

The amnesty, which was introduced by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016, commenced on 13 June for three years.

It allows landlords and tenants of 1991 Act, 2003 Act, and 2016 Act tenancies to seek to rectify any outstanding issues around notification of tenants’ improvements which should qualify for waygo compensation.

The Code of Practice has been produced by the Tenant Farming Commissioner Bob McIntosh in partnership with industry bodies such as NFU Scotland.

'Promote best practice'

NFU Scotland Policy Manager Gemma Cooper commented: “Both Crown Estate Scotland and its tenants are keen to promote best practice for relationships between landlords and tenants.

“The Tenant Farming Commissioner’s first Code has been produced to accompany the start of the amnesty, and the Union encourages landlords and tenants to familiarise themselves with this.

“During discussions around agricultural holdings it was clear that uncertainty over waygo was a key issue that required further consideration.

“NFU Scotland is pleased that Crown Estate is taking the lead in actively providing all of its agricultural tenants with a copy of the Code to allow them to make an informed decision about whether to utilise the amnesty.”