A reminder that the succession rules under Agricultural Holdings Act (AHA) tenancies changed as from the 1st September. This is one of the changes brought in by the Agriculture Act 2020. The previous ‘Commercial Unit’ test will be scrapped – this effectively meant someone could not take on the tenancy if they already had control of a large enough holding. From the 1st September there will be three conditions for succession. There are two ‘eligibility tests’ – firstly the potential successor must be a close relative to the previous tenant; secondly the successor must have derived their principal livelihood from the farm. Then, the third condition is a ‘suitability’ test. The person wishing to take over the tenancy must have the right level of experience, skills, financial standing and capability to take on the farm. This test has been strengthened as a qui-pro-quo for the removal of the Commercial Unit test.
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