Yorkshire Water tenants face large rent increase despite being unable to make a living from farming alone

“We’re not daft. You know it’s coming when you’ve not had one (rent review) since before Covid, but we hadn’t been expecting what amounts to having to find additional funds over the next six years, the terms under which we have now reluctantly had to agree with to remain at Breaks Fold,’ says Louise.

“It seems they want to squeeze us out so they can get rid of our generational tenancy agreement so they can then put it on a farm business tenancy and charge higher rents,” says Richard.

Earlier this year the land agents, tasked by the landlords Yorkshire Water, stunned the couple who have tried everything from a café to camping, glamping and caravans in order to make a living from the farm, with the news that they were increasing their annual rent threefold and that, in Richard and Louise’s words they were ‘coming for them’ for what the land agents termed latent value in relation to their diversified business.

“Richard is very amenable. We’re very easy to get on with. We will always be kind and we have always been honest and open with our landlords about what we have done,” says Louise.

“But the new rent is far above inflation and just seems ridiculous. The only reason we have agreed it is because we didn’t have the right insurance to risk taking them to court.

“They wanted to come after us for something called latent value. What that means is they are wanting a cut of our diverse enterprises.

“In addition to our flock of 300 breeding ewes and at any one time 20-30 calves that we take to 12-15 months and sell as stores at Wharfedale Farmers Auction Mart in Otley we have a Freedom Camping Club certified site for 25 pitches and a 5-pitch touring caravan site. It’s not some big bucks operation, just something to help with the farm that last year lost money.

“Tenant farmers up here, we are at about 1000ft above sea level, are very restricted because of who we rent from. We have to be low input to protect the water catchment and there are many things we can’t do because of proximity to the reservoir.

“This is referred to as a Less Favoured Area, classed as Severely Disadvantaged and because we are in Yorkshire Water’s Beyond Nature scheme we are limited to the amount of muck we can use on the land. It all means we can’t really make money out of the farming operation and that prohibits the amount of profit you can make and means you need to look at alternative incomes.

Louise says she and Richard have fought the latent value claims successfully, but they have concerns not just for themselves but other tenant farmers.

“Latent value is a very iffy area. There is no legal basis for it. There is case law for a farmer who was a tenant farmer in Cornwall who got planning permission for a static caravan site for 190 caravans, putting in infrastructure including roads. The land agents were trying to compare our tiny campsite to that. Their claim for latent value hinged on this one piece of case law.

“We now want to highlight that tenant farmers are not protected in any way by the law and that land agents and landlords can ride roughshod over tenants.

“The Rock Report about the importance of tenant farmers is really important and is going through Parliament but as yet there has been no answer to it. We are desperate for someone in Government to look at that report and say ‘yes, tenant farmers need XY & Z to protect them.’

“We are genuinely concerned about other tenant farmers because a lot will be on similar agreements to us and many of them will be older. The stress that this can cause to some poor farmer in his or her 70s might prove too much, and I can understand why many may just roll over and take it because they are frightened of the land agent or landlord.

Baroness Kate Rock’s independent Rock Report into tenant farming, published for Defra in October last year stated:

“There is no tenanted sector without landlords to let land, and what is best for landlords are viable, thriving tenants.

“We also want to highlight that tenant farmers have rights. They have the right to sanctity of contract, the covenant of quiet enjoyment of the rented land, they have the right to develop a viable business, and they have the right to a future livelihood. Some of the issues we have seen that cause us concern are working to trample or diminish the ability of tenants to exercise these rights.

“Our challenge, and the one that we now pass to Defra, has been to navigate the balance of rights and obligations from both the tenant and landlord. Rights are not inherent, they are formed through decades of experience, cultural views, institutions, and legislation. They change over time to suit the needs of the present and future.

Richard and Louise Pullan of Breaks Fold Farm are trying to make their 225-acre hill farm work with the addition of income sources from diversifications that are in keeping with the area. It appears that every recent effort by their land agents and landlords has been at odds with the Rock Report recommendations and smells of money coming before feelings.

“We’re having to sell stock off to pay the increase in our rent,” says Richard. “We’ve just had our worst month of the year for camping. Selling stock now will then impact on us at the other end of the year when we don’t have the stock.

“Coming for us at this time, when we are in the middle of lambing, which is often stressful, also has no consideration for our well-being, but it appears that there is little concern for that. It’s all about the money.