Agricultural tenancies in Scotland: how much does the legislative framework affect the power balance between landowners and tenants?

Competing demands for land in Europe and what it can deliver is set to intensify over the coming decades, and no more so than in Scotland. In the context of farming, rights to land are shared between landowners and tenants. The balance of these respective property rights has been a target for Scottish Government legislation since devolution in 1999, with the stated aim to address the decline in the amount of agricultural land available for rent, to encourage new entrants to agriculture and progress land reform. We analyse how the legislation influenced the relationship between landlords and tenants by changing their respective rights and obligations. Views of tenant farmers, landlords, industry professionals and land agents were explored in semi-structured interviews. The actual and perceived power shifts associated with agricultural tenancy law and land reform vary considerably as a result of specific rules in the legislation. For landowners, the unpredictable nature of government policy making with constant references to tenant's rights and diluting land ownership, led to a loss of trust and reluctance to let due to the perceived insecurity of property rights. This is hampering new entrant access to farm land, but perhaps has affected existing landlord-tenant relationships less negatively than expected. Such relationships are impacted by factors other than those regulated in legislation and leeway exists within the legislative framework to interpret rules on the ground in a practical way. Ultimately, this paper shows how the perception of legislation and Government messaging can be as important as the changes themselves. • Competing interests around land use affect the decision making of agricultural landlords and tenants. • Analysis of Scottish legislative framework over the last 25 years. • Government intervention to protect tenant rights is unlikely to make more leased land available. • The perception of power shifts varies considerably as a result of specific rules in the legislation. • Factors beyond legislation determine landlord-tenant relationships on the ground.