Following the death of its Agricultural Holdings Act tenant a college of the University of Oxford instructed Darbys to deal with the ending of the tenancy. There were no eligible successors to the relevant tenancy but the landlord nevertheless wanted to act sensitively in its dealings with the family in question. We worked to ensure that the correct notices were served in a timely and appropriate fashion and we assisted the tenant's family as much as possible by dealing with its queries and recommending local land agents to assist the family with the deceased's estate.
We were instructed by a tenant in the exercise of a break clause in a Farm Business Tenancy under the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995. We reviewed the tenancy agreement carefully to ensure that the requisite notices were served within the correct deadlines and we preserved the tenant's right to reserve its single farm payment entitlements and transfer them to other land it held. We worked closely with the tenant's land agent in ensuring that the tenant's interests were protected at all times, particularly on the question of dilapidations. The exercise of a break clause can easily result in a dispute so we warned the tenant of the requirement to yield up the property with vacant possession and with all dilapidations complete in plenty of time to ensure compliance. The break was exercised and the tenancy was consequently terminated successfully.