Owners of farm cottages should take note of a new set of
prescribed forms, which should be used to prevent a tenant from
becoming an assured agricultural occupant.
Owners of farm cottages which are to be let to agricultural workers
should take note of the government's introduction, on 6 April
2015, of a new set of prescribed forms relating to tenancies. In
order to prevent a tenant becoming an assured agricultural occupant
it is necessary to serve a prescribed form on the tenant prior to
the tenancy being entered into.
This gives notice that the tenancy is to take effect as an assured
shorthold tenancy. The correct form to serve is Form 9, which has
now replaced the old Form 7. Use of the old form will no longer be
valid and the new form can be downloaded here.
If the form is not served, then, if an agricultural worker lives
in a self-contained home as part of their job, they may
automatically have an assured agricultural occupancy. If an owner
wanted to end an assured agricultural occupancy, and the tenant did
not leave willingly, they would then have to go to court. The court
would decide whether the worker has to leave. The owner may have to
provide the tenant with suitable alternative accommodation,
depending on the circumstances. An assured agricultural occupancy
can also be passed to a tenant's spouse, or, if they don't
have a spouse, then the tenancy can pass to another family member
if they lived there with the worker for the two years before the
worker's death. A succession could therefore be a further
consequence an unintended assured agricultural occupancy.
The publication of the new form is a reminder that if an owner
wishes to avoid an agricultural worker having a more secure form of
tenancy, the correct procedures should be followed.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
