A landlord’s life is not always an easy one, as the Rostons team has been discovering in recent months.
The team is receiving more and more instructions from traditional landlords or former farmers who have let their land out on a variety of agreements, because a lack of pro-activity from the previous agents which, in turn, has raised a number of issues.
Among the most common problems are:
Missing the service of a key trigger notice, either to terminate the tenancy or to implement a rent review
Lack of tax advice. While agents are not accountants, they do need to have a good working knowledge of the taxation regime and also establish thorough understandings about what you are trying to achieve and ask important questions like are your plans reviewed from time to time? Is it right to continue on the traditional Grazing Agreement, Tenancy or would Contract Farming be more suited? Is Contract Farming meeting the needs of your specific circumstances?
Failure to collect the rent on time and/or not reviewing the rent at the appropriate time.
Changes to Single Payment/Basic Payment Scheme, not planning for the changes and in particular if you, the landowner are claiming the Single Farm Payment, making sure that you will meet the Basic Payment requirements such as Crop Diversification and Ecological Focus Areas, all of which need to be discussed with the contractor/occupier now, not next spring.
If you fall into this category, please contact the Rostons Team for practical and up-to-date advice.