A meeting of the Tenant Farming Forum (TFF) today (Wednesday 4 April), has confirmed that 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.
Work on the future of the tenanted sector has been building for many months and NFUS has been working to deliver a clear roadmap for improvements within the sector, as laid out at the NFUS AGM in February of this year.
At that time, NFUS requested that the Cabinet Secretary give a clear line of instruction to the TFF of its objectives and a time frame of delivery, and the news today that the TFF have taken up that challenge is a good result for the sector as a whole.
Speaking after the meeting of the TFF, Nigel Miller, President of NFU Scotland, said:
"For the TFF to be a success it was always going to be vital that we establish very clear and definite timelines for the group to deliver against. Those timelines are now in place, and the group will now be setting up a work programme that will allow it to report to the Cabinet Secretary within those timescales.
"NFU Scotland will be playing a vital role in laying out the wishes of our membership. To aid that process we will be holding meetings across Scotland to speak with both our tenant members and our landlord members to discuss issues such as investment in holdings, waygo and a satisfactory dispute resolution process.
"A major potential stumbling block around Tenancy issues had emerged in recent weeks, that being 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 that 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 rent determination that is transparent and fair for all has to be a priority, and today we have moved another step closer to that being a reality."
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Contact Wendy Fleming on 0131 472 4020