News

Where are we heading? With yields up and prices down there are mixed opinions as to where the agricultural sector is heading.  Lamb and milk prices remain low, as do grains (which has been partially attributed to the slowdown in the Chinese economy), although beef has shown marginal signs of improvement recently. The Sterling/Euro exchange…

Following a recent legal challenge on Minchinhampton and Rodborough commons in Gloucestershire, DEFRA have amended the mechanism by which SPS/BPS payments on common land are calculated.  This means that some commons’ claimants are eligible for additional payments on previously unclaimed areas of common, going back to 2009 as it has been determined that the previous…

The Deregulation Act 2015 makes a number of significant changes to the mechanism for serving notices to quit (NTQ) for Assured Shorthold Tenancies (AST) under Section 21 (used for residential property).  These changes are of course pertinent for both landlords and tenants, although the implications generally increase protection for tenants.  While this may not pose…

The Deregulation Act 2015 is lengthy and impacts on many areas of business, not only agricultural tenancies and residential lettings.  Our focus in this article is the amendments to the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986, whereby the Deregulation Act enables third party determination of disputes arising under the 1986 Act in certain instances, namely rent reviews,…

The Model Clauses (MCs) set out liabilities for the repair, replacement, maintenance and/or insurance of items of fixed equipment on a farm.  They apply to some agricultural tenancies in England and Wales under the Agricultural Holding’s Act 1986 and also to some Farm Business Tenancies under the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995. These were last reviewed…

In essence we all know why there was chaos in the last weeks leading up to the 15th June; the RPA pulling the plug on their new online system. Having done this towards the end of March, although offering a further month to complete claims, there were delays in providing pre-populated forms, guidance notes and…

For those involved in buying land this year extreme caution is needed to ensure both the vendor and purchaser understand the situation in respect to the BPS. To claim for this year and therefore to retain any entitlements registered in one’s name, one must have had the appropriate amount of land at one’s disposal for…

Planning is never an exact science and many decisions can be based on the subjective nature of the particular project, local support for the project, and the stance the local authority take towards it, to name but three factors. However when considering planning appeals, the ‘nature of the beast’ is something almost entirely different and…

Over previous months many landowners and renewable developers have been racing to ensure their solar installations were up and running before the 1st April drop in FIT rates, and for those looking to the future there may be uncertain ends to new renewables projects following recent comments by Western Power Distribution about the lack of…

The last few weeks has seen everything now “fall into place” for England, or perhaps fall out of place, and then fall back into a different place!  We all expected the chaos at the RPA, as with the introduction of the Single Payment Scheme, although it is difficult to accept the inevitable knock-on effect of…