_How to create innovative and equitable partnerships between landlord and tenant

A substantial portion of England's farmable land, around a third of nine million hectares, is still rented under tenancy agreements. These agreements are primarily divided into two types: Agricultural Holdings Act (AHA) tenancies, which offer succession rights and adhere to various regulations, and farm business tenancies (FBTs), which are more flexible and tailored to the needs of both parties.

However, I could argue that the current AHA tenancy model, established in the Agriculture Act of 1947, is outdated and insufficient in addressing the challenges posed by the post-Brexit era. With the shift towards environmental schemes and the concept of natural capital, there is a need to reimagine the landlord-tenant relationship as a genuine partnership that promotes mutual benefits and sustainability.

Tenants should be encouraged, if not obliged, to adopt regenerative and sustainable farming practices, which can lead to enhanced profitability, environmental conservation, and shared income streams. While some tenants are supportive, others remain resistant to change.  

This topic shines a light on why it's so crucial to have an open, constructive dialogue between landlords and tenants. Partnership matters, and it’s important to understand that meaningful connections can only be established through personal interactions. Unfortunately, many landlord-tenant relationships suffer from poor communication and mistrust, which has perpetuated across generations. To fix this, I have included six of my best recommendations below on how this can be improved.

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Investment

It’s important to invest time rather than just money to create meaningful change. While many people associate investments with finances, the investment in time, particularly from property owners and estate managers or agents, has the potential to make a significant difference.

There is a misconception that most tenants have positive relationships with their owners and estates due to traditional conditioning, but the reality is that this is often not the case. To address this, a shift in mindset is necessary, which only can be accomplished with time.

Relationships

Establishing a strong relationship will require spending quality time to really get to know one another. The issue with many AHA relationships is that they primarily rely on third parties, such as land agents, to handle negotiations.

Landlords often claim they lack the time, but what they truly mean is that they don't prioritise building such connections, which is unfortunate. Personally, I approach the relationship with a tenant's agent with the same level of care and consideration as I do with the landlord-tenant relationship.

I strongly believe in fostering 'no agenda' meetings between landlords and tenants, and I extend the same advocacy for agents as well.

Respect

In my view, respect serves as the foundational building block of any relationship, be it personal or professional. Respect enables us to value each other's perspectives, opinions, and needs, as well as fostering empathy, enabling us to genuinely listen and consider different viewpoints.

Without mutual respect, it becomes exceedingly challenging to establish trust, which is an essential component in achieving successful outcomes, such as closing a deal.

Self-Awareness

In a recent conversation, we debated whether the perspective of large institutional clients, who prioritise rent over relationships, was shaped internally or influenced by decades of advice from traditional agents. The result was the latter, land agents are trained by their predecessors, which often leads to long-standing beliefs that can persist for generations, similar to subconscious biases such as racism and sexism.

Stubborn attitudes and behaviours can soon create a cycle of mistrust and ineffective communication. Therefore, I strongly recommend speaking openly and challenging discussions within a non-adversarial and non-judgmental environment.

By doing so, we open the possibility of discovering significant areas of common ground that were previously overlooked.

Language

When it comes to language, I am continually surprised that I have never encountered anyone else who finds the terms 'Landlord' and 'Tenant' peculiar and outdated in our modern era. Considering their origin in a medieval context, it seems incongruous to still employ phrases tied to race, faith, or sex that are over 500 years old.

Therefore, I believe it is high time for us to reevaluate our language and embrace terminology that reflects a more equitable and collaborative relationship dynamic. The continued usage of these old terms unconsciously undermines our collective efforts towards collaboration, causing more harm than we may realise.

Alignment

Often when I arrive at a situation with AHA tenants, I get told that we tried that 'x' years ago, but we couldn’t reach an agreement. When I ask why we couldn’t get it over the line? The answer always boils down to the fact the parties fail to align themselves.

Aligning objectives between landlords and tenants is crucial as it establishes a solid framework for effective communication, trust-building, collaboration, and long-term stability in exchange for financial risk-sharing or environmental stewardship, where both parties can benefit.