Government Initiatives to Foster Positive Change in Tenant Farming Sector

The government announced the launch of a Call for Evidence today, Thursday 16 November, aimed at examining the proposal for a Tenant Farming Commissioner and enhancing cooperative relationships among tenants, landlords, and advisors.

This initiative will leverage insights from the Rock Review to gather industry feedback on the prevalence of problematic practices in the tenant farming sector, such as insufficient communication regarding critical business matters like tenancy renewals and rent reviews. The goal is to foster more productive collaborations among tenants, landlords, and their advisors.

Additionally, this Call for Evidence will evaluate the effectiveness of current complaint registration methods in addressing industry issues and assess the potential role of an independent Tenant Farming Commissioner to oversee conduct within the sector and promote good practice standards.

Farming Minister Mark Spencer emphasized:

Tenant farmers are essential to our rural economy. We have made substantial headway in responding to the Rock Review, including improving access to our Environment Land Management schemes for tenant farmers. We will continue our efforts to work closely with tenants, landlords, and the broader industry to drive meaningful improvements.

The Call for Evidence represents an essential step forward, and I urge farmers, landlords, and advisors to share their perspectives with their respective trade bodies to ensure diverse experiences within the sector are represented.

This announcement builds on the government’s advancements in implementing key recommendations from the Rock Review.

Among these developments is the Farm Tenancy Forum, established in July 2023, which focuses on fulfilling commitments outlined in the government’s response to the Rock Review. This forum includes industry representatives from tenant farmers, landlords, and professional advisors, and aims to address the specific challenges in the sector while promoting cooperative relationships and informing farming policy.

We are also making strides to improve tenant farmers’ access to Environmental Land Management schemes. Thousands of farmers operating on tenanted or mixed land have shown interest in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), with over half of the first-round applicants for our Landscape Recovery scheme involving tenanted land.

The government’s initiatives include:

• Collaborating with the sector to establish a new Code of Practice that sets standards of responsible behavior for all parties in tenancy agreements.
• Committing to offering additional actions on three-year agreements under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) without needing landlord consent starting in 2024.
• Promoting collaboration with a diverse range of land managers, including tenant farmers, through our Landscape Recovery Scheme.
• Evaluating support for New Entrants through a pilot scheme initiated earlier this year, which saw over 80% of participants come from non-farming family backgrounds. These pilots examined how to best support newcomers in accessing land and finance, including guidance on securing tenancies.
• Monitoring land data within the tenanted sector to identify trends related to land resumption and uncover potential change drivers.

Moreover, the government is allocating more than £168 million in grants this year to bolster the industry, including tenant farmers, geared towards fostering innovation, enhancing food production, improving animal health and welfare, and preserving the environment.

The Call for Evidence will be open for 12 weeks until 8 February 2024. Industry trade organizations and professional bodies representing the interests of tenant farmers, landlords, and advisors, as well as sector experts and forums with relevant experience, are invited to contribute their insights.

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

• This targeted Call for Evidence has been distributed to industry organizations and professional bodies representing tenant farmers, landlords, and advisors engaged in the tenant farming sector. The 12-week duration will allow these organizations to collate feedback from their broader memberships on the issues being addressed. Responses will also be welcomed from additional sector experts and organizations with relevant insights.
• The Government’s Response to the Rock Review was published in May 2023; you can find the full report here.
• The Rock Review, led by Baroness Rock with input from all sectors of tenant farming, was published in October 2022; the report is accessible here.
• The joint government and industry Farm Tenancy Forum was established in July 2023 to support implementation of the government’s response to the Rock Review; further details about its terms of reference and membership can be found here.