The Tenancy Reform Industry Group (TRIG) completed its deliberations last year and finalised its recommendations to the government. It was asked to do so in response to the government's announced review of the legislation comprised in the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995. The group was very representative of the farming industry including, as it did, delegates from all the major farming associations and specialists from the legal and surveying professions. The discussions were wide ranging and considered several aspects of both traditional agricultural tenancies which are regulated by the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 and the relatively new FBT regime.
For those who wish to see the report, it is available at
www.defra.gov.uk. Happily the gist of the proposals are to clarify those areas where there is some confusion and smooth out some of the evident problem areas. For example, the group has suggested that the parties to an agreement should be able to agree a limit to the compensation due to a tenant having invested in an improvement. There is also provision for specific instances where landlord and tenant can agree to "contract back" additional land into an existing 1986 Act tenancy. It will be interesting to see how the government respond to this thoughtful and well-considered contribution by the industry.