Chamberlain raises concerns about APR and Tenant Farmers

In a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Chamberlain highlighted the fact that, in Scotland, farming tenancies can be inherited in addition to privately owned land under the 1991 Act Tenancy. As a result, up to 4000 tenant farmers in Scotland will be impacted by the changes to Agricultural Property Relief.

Chamberlain said: “Tenant farmers are very restricted in what they can do to meet tax liabilities – they can’t take out a mortgage or sell land, so the issues the APR changes will cause are clear to see.

“I am deeply concerned that the impact the changes will have for Scottish tenant farmers has not been considered and I have urged the Government to urgently publish any assessments that have been made, and if no assessment has been done, I urge them to do one imminently.

“I hope to see provisions made for tenant farmers before the legislation is introduced to prevent yet another blow to the farming community.”