The Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 first introduced farm business tenancies (FBTs). These replaced agricultural tenancies under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 as a new form of commercial tenancy of agricultural land and have proved a popular and successful new vehicle for letting without long-term built-in security of tenure. In 2006 the FBT regime was radically improved so as to give contracting parties much more freedom to design their own tenancy, and to draw their own contracted-out rent review. The revamped arbitration procedures are dealt with in detail, together with a selection of commonly-encountered problems such as alienation, user and repairs.
This introductory guide is designed for lawyers, surveyors and other professionals wanting clear simple and comprehensive guidance through the scheme of the legislation and its significance relative to many commercial issues that clients experience in the set-up and development of a predominantly agricultural business.
The increased involvement of farmers with responsibilities to the EU, and the difficulty of regulating the relationship with business sub-tenants are areas of special treatment in the work, making it of interest to managers of land as well as farmers themselves.
The book contains relevant statutory materials for ease of reference.