The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) has hailed the appointment of Alan Laidlaw as the first Tenant Farming Commissioner for England as a major success for its lobbying and as hugely significant for the landlord tenant sector in agriculture.

TFA Chief Executive, George Dunn, said: “I warmly welcome the appointment of Alan Laidlaw to be the first Tenant Farming Commissioner in England. Having worked with Alan previously, I am sure that he will be thorough, diligent and impactful in this important role. The announcement of his appointment highlights both the importance of the landlord tenant sector within agriculture and marks a crucial step forward in cementing the industry approved Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice in England. Alan’s appointment will bring focus on achieving better relationships between landlords and tenants for their mutual benefit and improvements in the conduct of all parties, including landlord’s agents. The TFA looks forward to supporting Alan in this vital work.”

The TFA notes that the Commissioner’s role will be non-statutory and he will therefore need to work hard to ensure he has real influence and impact on a sector which needs to see huge change in the conduct of relationships between landlords, tenants and land agents. A survey carried out by the TFA last year found that 30% of tenant farmers felt that they were being bullied or harassed by their landlords and this rose to 37% by reference to landlord’s agents.

“Bullying and harassment at any level in our sector is unacceptable but sadly the TFA sees this almost as a daily occurrence in the job that we do with and for our members. However, there are also many examples of good practice, and it will be important for the Commissioner to shine a light on those situations to draw the contrast with those landlords and landlord’s agents who must improve their conduct,” said Mr Dunn.

One way that the Commissioner could gain real traction would be to convince landlords to incorporate the agreed Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice into their tenancy agreements. That could be further enhanced if those landlords could also be convinced to write into their tenancy agreements that the Commissioner will be used to adjudicate on any issues of poor conduct that arise through the course of a tenancy and that the Commissioner’s adjudication would be binding.

“We have already seen some institutional landlords including the code of practice as a standard term in their tenancy agreements and it would be an easy win for the Commissioner to see that practice expanded to other institutional landlords and into the private sector. Given Alan’s previous involvement with The Crown Estate he will clearly have some intuition into the mindset of institutional landlords that he can use to his advantage in his new role,” said Mr Dunn.

No doubt, the Commissioner will be in receipt of a raft of early cases that will need his careful and wise deliberation. Some of these cases will be long-standing and difficult. Indeed, the TFA is anticipating being involved in referring cases to the Commissioner to review. Although confidential, the way in which these early cases will be handled by the Commissioner will have a major influence over the extent to which the role will be seen as adding value.

Alongside issues of conduct, the Commissioner will also have a role to consider the way in which disputes are resolved within the landlord tenant sector in agriculture with a particular focus on arbitration. The TFA would like to see the Commissioner pulling together the principal organisations involved in dispute resolution to determine what improvements could be made to improve experience and consistency.

“It is vital that we see arbitration becoming less onerous, less expensive, quicker and more consistent. It is a major limitation that individual arbitrators are not permitted to see or use the awards of other arbitrators to assist them in making better awards themselves. This system operates well within the courts, so it would be good to find a way to operate it within the realm of arbitration. It will be important for the Commissioner to find the time to give attention to this within the terms of reference DEFRA has established for his role,” said Mr Dunn.

-Ends-

MR25/16

25 September 2025

Notes to the Editor:

Pictured in the thumbnail L–R: George Dunn (TFA Chief Executive), David Exwood (NFU Deputy President), Rt Hon Emma Reynolds MP (DEFRA Secretary of State), Alan Laidlaw (Commissioner for the Tenant Farming Sector), Martin Lines (Chief Executive, Nature Friendly Farming Network) & Gavin Lane (CLA Deputy President)

DEFRA Video of Rt Hon Emma Reynolds MP (DEFRA Secretary of State) and Alan Laidlaw (Commissioner for the Tenant Farming Sector) alongside George Dunn (TFA Chief Executive), David Exwood (NFU Deputy President), Martin Lines (Chief Executive, Nature Friendly Farming Network) & Gavin Lane (CLA Deputy President). To watch this, click here.

For media enquiries, contact Julia Meadows, TFA Communications and Events Coordinator, on a or 07887 777157.