Threat to Buckinghamshire tenancies

20 November 1998

Threat to Buckinghamshire tenancies

CASH-STRAPPED Buckinghamshire county council could flog off many of its 141 tenant farms to raise funds.

Bill Chapple, chairman of the councils environmental services, said the sale could raise up to £20 million.

Originally the council had considered selling all its farms, but the Tenant Farmers Association intervened and questioned the legality of such a move on the grounds that the council had an obligation to retain some farms for new entrants.

“It is difficult to say how many farms will be sold off now, but existing tenants will be given first refusal to buy their farms,” said Mr Chapple. But he warned that the council had an obligation to sell farms at the maximum price offered.

“What we wont be doing is issuing any new lifetime tenancies. All will be short-term tenancies.”