I blogged last week about the amnesty on tenant's improvements. Since then, we have had news of more progress on implementation of the agricultural holdings provisions in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016- this time on the subject of rent review.
The rent review provisions are largely acknowledged to be the most technically complex in Part 10 of the 2016 Act. The new rent will be a "fair rent", which will have regard to, amongst other things, the "productive capacity" of the holding. The meaning of "productive capacity" and how it will be determined is left to secondary legislation. The provisions are not yet in force.
The Scottish Government isproposing tocarry outa rent review testing exercise in order to see how the provisions of the 2016 Act and the proposed draft definitions would work in practice. An invitation to tender for this work has been issued and is available here.
In the meantime and until the new provisions come into force, rent reviews should be carried out in accordance with the existing legislationand based on the rent which the holding might reasonably be expected to be let for on the open market.
If you have any questions on rent review, please get in touch with your usual contact in the Land and Rural Business Team.
