Unwritten Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 tenancies
The objective of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 was to give agricultural tenants security of tenure virtually for life, partnered with rights of succession by members of the tenant’s family.
For landlords, AHA tenancies can tie up an asset and depress its value for many decades. A tenancy can have this protection whether it is in writing or not.
For any landlord who has owned tenanted land or a tenant who has occupied land since 1995, it is essential to consider that a tenant may be able to 'transfer' an unwritten tenancy to an individual or limited company.
This can result in it being even more difficult for a landlord to terminate the tenancy, resulting in a significant reduction in the market value of the land and little opportunity for the landlord to take the holding back in hand.
Often, the first a landlord is likely to know of such an assignment is when the rent starts to be paid by a limited company, by which point it will be too late to act.
If a tenancy (or other occupation of land) which began before 1995 is not recorded in writing, whether you are the landlord or tenant you should consider taking immediate legal advice about your position. Unless a landlord has served a specific form of notice on a tenant, a tenant under a tenancy of this type is generally permitted to assign a tenancy to any third party without obtaining the landlord’s consent.
Serving this specific form of notice can help to protect a landlord’s position, and we would urge any landlord to consider whether they should do this. If a tenant is sure that they have not received such a notice, they will be free to assign the tenancy and protect their occupation of the land for years to come.
If you are a landlord who would like to protect your position, or a tenant who would like to review their tenancy, please contact us for more information.
Nicola Davies is a solicitor at Agri Advisor’s Welshpool office