Tenant farmers’ views sought on working with landlords

The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) is urging all tenant farmers in England and Wales to provide their views and experiences on their relationships with landlords, to help inform a government review into the sector.

A short questionnaire has been created by the TFA to feed into a wider call for evidence by Defra on issues related to poor practice in the tenanted sector, and to ensure tenant farmers are fairly treated.

Defra’s call for evidence will consider the relationships between landlords, agents and tenants in agriculture and the potential role of a tenant farming commissioner.

The introduction of a tenant farming commissioner is being considered by Defra following recommendations made in the Rock Review in 2022.

See also: What would a tenant farming commissioner offer the sector?

The review hopes to establish how effective existing dispute resolution mechanisms are, and also look into current industry complaints procedures.

Tenant farmers can fill in the questionnaire on the TFA website, with submissions due to close on 19 January.

Responses from industry bodies, advisers and sector experts are then due to be submitted to Defra as part of the wider review by 8 February.

TFA chief executive George Dunn said: “I cannot stress enough how significant it is that we hear your views.

“This is a really important opportunity for the tenanted sector to influence the way in which we are regulated now and in the future.

“Very sadly, we hear stories regularly about tenant farmers who feel bullied, marginalised and harassed by their landlords.

“The survey will provide an important insight into how widespread that might be or whether relationships are indeed, on the whole, better than what is currently being reported.”