About you
3. What is your name?
Name
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Turcan Connell
Organisation details
6. Name of organisation
Name of organisation
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Turcan Connell
7. Information about your organisation
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Turcan Connell, with 26 partner lead teams and around 210 staff, is the largest law firm in Scotland advising the owners and managers of rural land. The strength and depth of our rural property expertise enables us to manage the full range of legal needs for individuals, business owners, landowners, land managers and entrepreneurs engaged in the sector. With offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow our rural land teams are dedicated exclusively to, and advise a diverse client base across, the full spectrum of agriculture and rural property work.
Tacit relocation – notices to quit and notices of intention to quit
5. What are your views on these sections of the Bill and the approach they take to giving notice?
Please provide your response in the box provided.
We do not agree that a notice of intention to quit for a lease of one year or less may be given orally. There is scope for uncertainty, misunderstanding and disagreement. Examples might be where it is unclear whether the party giving notice has the necessary authority (e.g. an onsite manager purporting to give notice on behalf of the tenant company) or a miscommunication as to what the party's intention really is. The requirement for any such notice to be given in writing should apply regardless of the length of the lease.
Tacit relocation – Leases excluded from the rules in schedule 1
6. What is your view on schedule 1 of the Bill which excludes certain leases from the new rules on automatic continuation?
Please provide your response in the box provided.
In respect of paragraph 1(d) of schedule 1:
A grazing or mowing lease of 364 days or less is an "agricultural lease" within the definition of s1(3) of the Bill - see s3 of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 (the "2003 Act") - and is therefore outwith the scope of the Bill. A grazing or mowing lease of 365 days is not caught by s3 of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 and would instead "default" under s4(2) of the 2003 Act to a short limited duration tenancy which is also a form of agricultural lease excluded from the Bill under s1(3). We are therefore unclear as to why grazing and mowing leases for one year or less have been excluded from the automatic continuation provisions in terms of s2(b) and paragraph 1(d) of schedule 1, as they already fall outwith scope of the Bill. This is confusing and we think that it needs to be reviewed and amended as appropriate.
A grazing or mowing lease of 364 days or less is an "agricultural lease" within the definition of s1(3) of the Bill - see s3 of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 (the "2003 Act") - and is therefore outwith the scope of the Bill. A grazing or mowing lease of 365 days is not caught by s3 of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 and would instead "default" under s4(2) of the 2003 Act to a short limited duration tenancy which is also a form of agricultural lease excluded from the Bill under s1(3). We are therefore unclear as to why grazing and mowing leases for one year or less have been excluded from the automatic continuation provisions in terms of s2(b) and paragraph 1(d) of schedule 1, as they already fall outwith scope of the Bill. This is confusing and we think that it needs to be reviewed and amended as appropriate.