Upland landlords need incentive to offer longer tenancies

Landlords in the uplands should be incentivised to offer longer term tenancies to give farming tenants confidence to invest in their businesses, the NFU says.

The recommendation to government is included following an NFU survey of 500 upland farming members based in northern England.

Asked about the barriers they are facing to invest in their businesses, more than half of respondents (51%) cited short-term tenancies.

See also: Defra’s ‘partial’ plans for tenancy reform in England ‘disappoint’

NFU Uplands forum chair Thomas Binns told Farmers Weekly that around a third of upland farms in northern England have some form of tenancy, and a lot of these will be Farm Business Tenancies (FBTs).

But many tenant farmers in the North lack confidence to invest in their businesses for the future amid concerns landlords may not renew their FBTs and opt to enter green schemes without the tenant.

“It is vital that schemes continue to be focused on the active farmer and this should be included in their design,” said Mr Binns.

“Defra must also make the new schemes easier for farms to enter and make them applicable for farmers to produce food in the first instance.”

The NFU survey found that 63% of FBTs in northern England are six years or shorter, according to respondents.

The recently published independent Rock Review found the average length of FBTs is less than four years and it included a recommendation to Defra that it should incentivise longer term FBTs in the tenanted sector.

Mr Binns said the findings of the NFU’s survey were “well received” by MPs in a meeting of the the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hill Farming on Tuesday 4 July, which was chaired by Liberal Democrat South Lakes MP Tim Farron.

Since the survey was conducted, Defra secretary Therese Coffey has made an announcement directly to the NFU’s Uplands Forum, confirming government will give parity to payment rates and improved options under its Environmental Land Management scheme for upland farmers.