Advice On Regaining Possession Of Land For Development.

We were approached by a landlord client who was looking to develop some land. The land was subject to a tenancy under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 (AHA86).

How We Approached The Project

The first job was to review the tenancy agreement and see what the position was. We concluded it was definitely under the AHA86.

Tenants under the AHA86 are usually those who have been granted a tenancy prior to September 1995. They benefit from significant protection under the Act. Therefore, they can be very valuable and attempts to regain possession by the landlord is usually defended strongly.

How We Achieved The Project

The landlord wanted to regain possession of the whole of the area that was included in the tenancy.

We therefore had to determine the appropriate notice that needed to be served, there are two types of notice under the Act, unqualified and qualified notices. We determined, working closely with the client’s solicitor and taking their advice, that a qualified notice was the correct route. The appropriate notice was under Case B. This is a notice for land required for non-agricultural use permitted by planning permission or statute. We worked with the solicitor and they served the appropriate notice on our client’s behalf.

During the whole process we were in contact with the tenant on the property, ensuring that they were fully informed on our process and what we were planning. Whilst the formal notice was required to protect the landlord’s position, we always endeavour to keep the landlord and tenant relationship as amicable as possible and keep all parties informed at all stages of processes such as this.

After the notice was served we worked with the tenant’s agent to confirm the compensation on the termination of the tenancy.