Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act to make further provision with respect to tenancies which include agricultural land. |
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Citation | 1995 c. 8 |
Territorial extent | England and Wales |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 9 May 1995 |
Commencement | 1 September 1995 |
Other legislation | |
Amended by |
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Status: Amended | |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Text of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
The Agricultural Holdings Act 1995 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which applies to England and Wales. It is in force. The Act reformed and substantially deregulated the law relating to agricultural tenancies, and has had the dual effects of increasing the amount of land available to rent in the agricultural sector, and increasing the average rent per acre charged.
By the early 1990s, it was clear that the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 was not working. The 1986 Act had given security to agricultural tenants and held down rents, and the effect on landlords was so onerous that the amount of farmland available to let in the UK was declining by more than 50,000 acres a year. [1] A loophole in the law was found that enabled landlords to avoid the security of tenure conferred by the 1986 Act (Gladstone v Bower agreements), and by 1994 more than 70% of new agricultural tenancies used this loophole. [2] This held down the term of an agricultural tenancy to less than two years. But most farmland that fell vacant was not available to let at all: the landlords were often hiring contractors to farm it for them, or entering into share farming or partnership arrangements, rather than letting to the small businessman farmer.
In February 1991, the MAFF ("Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food", the body that later became DEFRA) published a consultation paper. The aim was to deregulate, simplify, and encourage the letting of land. In the proposals as originally drafted, there was to be no security of tenure, the Common Law on Notice to Quit would apply, and there would be near-complete freedom of contract. So for example, contractual provisions could override the statutory compensation due to tenants for improvements to the holding. [3]
There was dissatisfaction from industry groups with this approach, and the detailed proposals published in September 1992 watered down the initial consultation document quite considerably. [3] In December 1993, the National Farmers Union, the Country Landowners Association, the Tenant Farmers Association and others issued their Joint Industry Statement setting out the consensus proposals for reform. It was this statement that formed the basis of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995, which received royal assent on 9 May 1995. The RICS predicted that it would lead to 1 million extra acres becoming available for letting. [3] Market garden land tenanted under the so-called Evesham Custom was given a specific exemption, as otherwise an outgoing tenant would not be able to offer a tenancy to an incomer on equivalent terms and security, this being one of the Custom's essential principles. [4]
Although the RICS' prediction of 1 million additional acres did not materialise, the decline in the amount of land available to let was halted and indeed there was a modest increase in supply. The 1995 Act seems to have caused land to be let for a shorter term and a higher rent. [5] Since 1977 the Agricultural Land Occupation Surveys of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers has monitored the development of agricultural land reletting and availability with statistics produced on an annual basis and in 2019 the figures indicate that where there is a change of occupation, between 15 and 30% of lettings are made to persons farming for the first time ("new entrants"). [6]
The new kind of tenancy introduced in the 1995 Act is called a Farm Business Tenancy ("FBT") and since 1 September 1995, almost all new agricultural lettings have used this framework. However, tenancies created under the 1986 Act remain in force and unchanged by the subsequent legislation. The 1995 Act has been amended somewhat in the Regulatory Reform Order 2006. This has, in a modest way, streamlined, simplified and deregulated Farm Business Tenancies to an even greater extent.
According to Williams et al. 2007, the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 changes agricultural tenancies in the following ways: [7]
The 2006 reforms made the following further changes: [8]
A tenant farmer is a person who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, while tenant farmers contribute their labor along with at times varying amounts of capital and management. Depending on the contract, tenants can make payments to the owner either of a fixed portion of the product, in cash or in a combination. The rights the tenant has over the land, the form, and measures of payment vary across systems. In some systems, the tenant could be evicted at whim ; in others, the landowner and tenant sign a contract for a fixed number of years. In most developed countries today, at least some restrictions are placed on the rights of landlords to evict tenants under normal circumstances.
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user to pay the owner for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial or business equipment are also leased. In essence, a lease agreement is a contract between two parties: the lessor and the lessee. The lessor is the legal owner of the asset, while the lessee obtains the right to use the asset in return for regular rental payments. The lessee also agrees to abide by various conditions regarding their use of the property or equipment. For example, a person leasing a car may agree to the condition that the car will only be used for personal use.
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant has rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a leasehold estate is typically considered personal property.
The Land Acts were a series of measures to deal with the question of tenancy contracts and peasant proprietorship of land in Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Five such acts were introduced by the government of the United Kingdom between 1870 and 1909. Further acts were introduced by the governments of the Irish Free State after 1922 and more acts were passed for Northern Ireland.
Crofting is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production peculiar to the Scottish Highlands, the islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man. Within the 19th-century townships, individual crofts were established on the better land, and a large area of poorer-quality hill ground was shared by all the crofters of the township for grazing of their livestock. In the 21st century, crofting is found predominantly in the rural Western and Northern Isles and in the coastal fringes of the western and northern Scottish mainland.
The Napier Commission, officially the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Condition of Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands was a royal commission and public inquiry into the condition of crofters and cottars in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
Tenant-right is a term in the common law system expressing the right to compensation which a tenant has, either by custom or by law, against his landlord for increment at the termination of his tenancy.
The assured shorthold tenancy (AST) is the default legal category of residential tenancy in England and Wales. It is a form of assured tenancy with limited security of tenure, which was introduced by the Housing Act 1988 and saw an important default provision and a widening of its definition made by the Housing Act 1996. Since 28 February 1997 in respect of accommodation to new tenants who are new to their landlords, the assured shorthold tenancy has become the most common form of arrangement that involves a private residential landlord. The equivalent in Scotland is short assured tenancy.
Land reform in Scotland is the ongoing process by which the ownership of land, its distribution and the law which governs it is modified, reformed and modernised by property and regulatory law.
The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 is an act of the United Kingdom Parliament extending to England and Wales. Part II of the act is a statutory code governing business tenancies. Part I of the act, which dealt with the protection of residential tenancies, is now largely superseded.
An assured tenancy is a legal category of residential tenancy to an individual in English land law. Statute affords a tenant under an assured tenancy a degree of security of tenure. A tenant under an assured tenancy may not be evicted without a reasonable ground in the Housing Act 1988 and, where periodic changes in rent are potentially subject to a challenge before a rent assessment committee.
The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 is a UK act of Parliament on English land law. It sets minimum standards in tenants' rights against their landlords.
Agriculture in the United Kingdom uses 69% of the country's land area, employs 1% of its workforce and contributes 0.5% of its gross value added. The UK currently produces about 54% of its domestic food consumption.
Operation Barga was a land reform movement, throughout rural West Bengal for recording the names of sharecroppers (bargadars) while avoiding the time-consuming method of recording through the settlement machinery. It bestowed on the bargadars, the legal protection against eviction by the landlords (jotedars), and entitled them to the due share of the produce. Operation Barga was launched in 1978 and concluded by the mid-1980s. Introduced in 1978, and given legal backing in 1979 and 1980, Operation Barga became a popular but controversial measure for land reforms. The ultimate aim of these land reforms was to facilitate the conversion of the state's bargadars into landowners, in line with the Directive Principles of State Policy of the Indian Constitution. To date, Op Barga has recorded the names of approximately 1.5 million bargadars. Since then, it has been marked as one of the most successful land reforms programs in India.
Gladstone v Bower [1960] 2 QB 384 was a 1959 case in the English Court of Appeal, concerning security of tenure in tenancies of agricultural holdings. It arose from what was then thought to be a lacuna in the Agricultural Holdings Act 1948.
The history of rent control in England and Wales is a part of English land law concerning the development of rent regulation in England and Wales. Controlling the prices that landlords could make their tenants pay formed the main element of rent regulation, and was in place from 1915 until its abolition by the Housing Act 1988.
A short assured tenancy is a type of tenancy in Scotland that was introduced by the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988. A short assured tenancy gives landlords some protection and freedom of action when letting their properties. Short assured tenancies have become the norm within the residential letting industry in Scotland. The equivalent legislation in England and Wales is assured shorthold tenancy. Following the enactment of the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, it is no longer possible to create a short assured tenancy, instead a private residential tenancy must be entered into; with greater protections for the tenant such as security of tenure.
Land reform in the Philippines has long been a contentious issue rooted in the Spanish colonial period. Some efforts began during the American colonial period with renewed efforts during the Commonwealth, following independence, during martial law, and especially following the People Power Revolution in 1986. The current law, the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, was passed following the revolution and extended until 2014.
The Housing Act 1988 is an act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It governs the law between landlords and tenants. The act introduced the concepts of assured tenancy and assured shorthold tenancy. It also facilitated the transfer of council housing to not-for-profit housing associations, which was then carried out partly through the system of Large Scale Voluntary Transfer.
The Evesham Custom is a distinctive form of customary leasehold tenure used in the market gardens of Evesham, Worcestershire. It is the most well-known of a number of former local practises, such as the Ulster Custom and North Lincolnshire Custom. The underlying principle of such customs was that the tenant could be granted compensation for any improvements they made to the land they leased, since the common law did not provide any such protection.