STFA wants sale of estate put on hold

Tenant farming leaders have called for the sale of a 21,000-acre Highland estate to be put on hold amid concerns the estate’s ownership structure is depriving tenants of their pre-emptive right to buy.

The Scottish Tenant Farmers’ Association (STFA) has called for the sale of the Tulchan Estate in Speyside, which has a £25 million price tag, to be halted until concerns over the rights of its tenants are addressed.

According to the STFA, a loophole in legislation means the estate’s five tenants are at risk of losing their pre- emptive right to have first refusal to buy their farms even if they have registered an interest in buying the land with Registers of Scotland.

This is because the estate is owned by a limited company, and the company is for sale rather than the land itself.

STFA director Angus McCall said: “It is an appalling state of affairs that the Tulchan tenants are being denied a right afforded to other tenants and a say in their future just because of the structure of ownership and a flawed legal technicality.”

He said STFA had contacted the Government farm tenancy adviser Andrew Thin about the issue, and he will now be contacting the tenants to try to broker discussions about the future of the tenanted farms.

Jonathan Henson from Savills, which is marketing the estate, said: “We are in the process of preparing for the sale of Tulchan Sporting Estates Ltd, a company that was established over 23 years ago to run Tulchan as a business.

“We are aware of the comments made by the STFA. We are committed to undertaking a dialogue with the tenant farmers and are already in discussion with Andrew Thin, the independent adviser on tenant farming, to understand and address the concerns that have been expressed.”

It is an appalling state of affairs. ANGUS McCALL