Published at 21:35, Wednesday, 18 April 2012

NFU Scotland’s vision for a better future for the tenanted sector has moved one step closer with a timetable agreed for the delivery of outcomes from the group.

The move was confirmed at a meeting of the Tenant Farming Forum (TFF).

Work on the future of the tenanted sector has been building for many months and the union has been working to deliver a clear roadmap for improvements in the sector, as laid out at its agm in February.

At that time, it requested the cabinet secretary Richard Lochhead give a clear line of instruction to the TFF of its objectives and a timeframe for delivery. The news that the TFF had taken up the challenge was a good result for the sector.

Nigel Miller, NFUS president, said: “For the TFF to be a success it was always going to be vital that we establish clear and definite timelines to be delivered by the group. These are now in place and the group will set up a work programme which allows it to report to the cabinet secretary within those timescales.

“We’ll play a vital role in laying out the wishes of our membership. To aid that process, we will hold meetings around Scotland to speak with our tenant and landlord members to discuss issues such as investment in holdings, waygo and a satisfactory dispute resolution process.

“A major potential stumbling block on tenancy issues emerged in recent weeks, Section 13 of the 2003 Act, which has created a new level of uncertainty over future rent determination of secure tenancies. To avoid a stall in the roadmap process this issue will be dealt with separately. It is in the interests of all parties to develop a rent review system which underpins a viable and sustainable tenanted sector. Key to that must be the rental value reflecting the ability of the land to generate income.

“Ultimately, establishing a means of a transparent and fair rent determination has to be a priority and we have moved another step closer to that being a reality.”

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