Mcintosh wants to raise standards for land agents

While the Scottish Land Commission’s review of the role of land agents in Scotland’s tenant farming sector concluded that the majority of both tenants and landlords were satisfied with the standards of professional conduct, a list of nine recommendations to address areas of shortfall has been drawn up.

Thereporthadbeeninstigated by the Scottish Parliament during the preparation of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 – and reflected concern that inexperienced or insensitive agents were adversely affecting the relationships between landlords and their tenants.

Tenant farming commissioner Bob Mcintosh said that landlords and tenants were generally satisfied by the conduct of agents working on their behalf – but less so with that of agents acting on behalf of the other party. He said that while 17 per cent of both landlords and tenants were dissatisfied with the conduct of an agent, this had generally been linked to behaviour rather than to any lack of technical or legal knowledge.

The report concluded that the key reasons for dissatisfaction were: poor communication and 0 Sarah-jane Laing is keen to iron out any problems inadequate recording of the outcome of meetings; unnecessarily aggressive or condescending behaviour; lack of transparency openness and honesty; lack of awareness of the impact of a single transaction on the long term relationship between landlord and tenant.

“We heard some evidence, from tenants in particular, of insensitive and condescending behaviour by agents. Discussions and negotiations took place in an atmosphere where the agent displayed arrogance and a tendency to talk down to the tenant and was unnecessarily confrontational,” said the report.

The review and recommendations were welcomed by both the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association (STFA) and landowners’ organisation Scottish Land & Estates (SLE).

STFA chairman Christopher Nicholson said that his organisation had always recognised that the majority of agents operated in a fair and reasonable manner and that the dissatisfaction stemmed from the practices of only a handful of agents.

However, he added that the concentrated pattern of land management in Scotland meant “a few mavericks” could have a disproportionate effect on the tenanted sector as a whole.

Nicholson welcomed the “robust” recommendations made in the review – including proposals to draw up a guide to professional standards and a complaints system.

Sarah-jane Laing, executive director of SLE, welcomed the review’s assertion that dialogue and communication were at the heart of good business relationships and ensuring there was transparency from all parties – including land agents – would help.

She added that the sector was committed to ironing out difficulties where they existed, stating that the report made recommendations which would enhance existing processes and ensure that dialogues remained productive even where “difficult conversations need to be conducted”.