Law Commission To Review The Law Relating To Tenancies Of Agricultural Land

The Law Commission is the government agency which considers changes to the law, identifying potential areas for review, consulting on them with experts and the public and publishing reports with their recommendations  which may lead to changes to legislation. 

Their latest programme was launched on 4 September 2025 and one of the projects identified was agricultural tenancies.

There are two types of agricultural tenancy under the current law:

• pre-1995 tenancies, governed by the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986, which generally provide lifetime security of tenure, rent control, and (often) succession rights; and
• post-1995 tenancies (“Farm Business Tenancies”) governed by the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995, which do not have any fixed statutory period, succession rights, or rent control.

The project will consider whether the existing law properly balances giving tenant farmers sufficient security to encourage investment and maintain viable farm businesses, opportunities for new entrants to access farming opportunities, and the interests and confidence of landlords to let land.

The project will also consider whether the law impedes tenant farmers from diversifying their businesses, including to farm in more sustainable ways; whether the law supports a collaborative approach between landlords and tenants; and whether there are technical issues which cause problems in practice.

It is noted that detailed consideration of this area of law is “long overdue”.  However, as to timing the commissioners merely say that the project will commence “when resources allow” with further steps and their timings to be confirmed “in due course”.

Agricultural tenancies – Law Commission