Changes to Scottish limited partnership secure agricultural tenancies

In Scotland, limited partnership secure agricultural tenancies under the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1991 were common until 2003 as a way of landlords creating an agricultural tenancy with restricted security of tenure. The tenant farmer would be the general partner, and the landlord the limited partner, and the partnership would have an agreed end date. However, the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 provided alternative mechanisms to create time limited agricultural tenancies, and the number of limited partnership secure agricultural tenancies has declined significantly since then.

The Agricultural Holdings (Relinquishment and Assignation) (Application to Relevant Partnerships) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/XXX) enable remaining tenant farmer general partners to relinquish the tenancy to their landlord in exchange for compensation, but prevent them assigning it unless the landlord refuses to accept the relinquishment.