Land agents’ activities ‘under the spotlight’
With a handful of land agent firms factoring huge areas of Scotland’s let farmland, a call has been made for the review, announced this week, of the conduct of these businesses to be extended to look at what was claimed to be the “disproportionate control” they have over the way land is managed.
While welcoming the review into agents’ conduct as a “major milestone towards the improvement of relationships between landlords and tenants”, the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association (STFA) said that legislative complexity had seen landlords rely increasingly on the advice of these professional agents.
“And this puts them in a pivotal position to influence land management in Scotland,” said the STFA chairman, Christopher Nicholson.
He said that, because of the undoubted impact which estate management had on the wider community, the STFA wanted the review – announced by Tenant Farming Commissioner (TFC) Dr Bob Mcintosh – to be extended to examine the advice being given by professional agents on the management of that land.
“A handful of land agent firms factor Scotland’s let land and exert disproportionate control over the way in which it is managed,” said Nicholson.
The review was prompted by the fact that, during the course of the Agricultural Holdings Review Group’s work and the subsequent passage of the Land Reform Act, the behaviour of professionals engaged in agricultural holdings work featured often in discussions.
Nicholson said that traditional resident factors had been replaced by commercially driven firms of land agents with little personal knowledge of the estate or the local situation.
“This lack of understanding and sometimes tactless behaviour usually comes to the fore during rent reviews leading to conflict and acrimony,” he said.
However, he added that the promise made last year of a review had helped – and the creation of a Tenant Farming Commissioner had provided access to an independent ombudsman.
The review, which will be the first substantial piece of research carried out for the TFC, aims to collect a wide range of evidence on the views and experiences of landlords and tenants regarding their satisfaction with the conduct of agents acting on their behalf.
Announcing that a tender was open to conduct the review, Mcintosh will have until March 2018 to complete the review and make recommendations to Scottish ministers.
Speaking this week he said: “This research will help to get a true understanding of the current situation with regard to the operation of agents and the impact it has on relations in the sector.”
NFU Scotland president Andrew Mccornick also welcomed the review, stating that the conduct of professionals engaged in agriculturalholdingsworkwas a topic which had featured often in discussions during the land reform debate.
“Unfortunately, experiences reported by some of our members were not always positive or conducive to ongoing dialogue, and in some cases caused deeper division between landlords and tenants,” said Mccornick.
“These professionals play a vital role in negotiating for and representing both landlords and tenants, and it is of critical importance that their behaviour is mindful of the sensitivities that often arise around agricultural tenancies”.