Farmers and landowners have known for a long time about the special status that can be enjoyed by those occupying residential premises and who work in agriculture. They will have doubtless seen many articles heralding the biggest change in the private rented sector since the introduction of the Housing Act 1988 and will no doubt wonder if – and how – this affects them. The short answer is that, like always, care needs to be taken, and proper advice should be sought to prevent any unintended consequences.
The current regime
There are, of course, legacy tenancies in place for farm workers who enjoy rights under the Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976, but otherwise new agricultural workers who meet the required conditions can become entitled to an assured agricultural occupancy – an “AAO” – under the Housing Act 1988.
It has been possible to avoid the creation of an AAO (and thereby avoiding the rights of succession that can flow from such an agreement and also making it easier to terminate) by the service of a suitable notice and thereby creating an assured shorthold tenancy, (“AST”). The requisite notice is often referred to as a “Form 9 notice” and is freely available online. Such a notice must meet the requirements of paragraph 9, schedule 2A of the Housing Act 1988.
The question which now arises is what should be done after the implementation of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025?
The new regime
Firstly, the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 will end ASTs with effect from 30 April 2026, such tenancies being replaced by assured periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026. Whilst ASTs will be no longer, Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976 tenancies and AAOs in existence before this date are not affected and will retain their status.
Any tenancy for which a landlord had previously served a Form 9 Notice, will also remain outside of the scope of being an AAO, but their agreement will follow the fate of all other ASTs and become a periodic tenancy and subject to the new rules relating to termination of the same. Articles generally about the regulation and termination of these tenancies are dealt with in the following articles prepared by my colleagues:
A further short article concerning the new grounds for possession which may come to the assistance of farmers and landowners who may have one of the new periodic tenancies in place from 1 May 2026 (whether created pre- or post- 1 May 2026) will follow in due course.
The risks
Despite the change affecting the abolition of section 21 notices in the private rented sector, AAOs have been carved out from the changes, the policy of protecting farm workers continuing into the future. As such, farmers and landowners need to be fully aware of the changes, the fact that AAOs will continue and can still be created, and that they will now need to use new forms rather than the old Form 9 Notice to prevent an AAO arising.
Whilst not yet published by the Government at the time of this article, there is due to be a new “opt out notice” which will essentially replace the Form 9 Notice with effect from 1 May 2026. Information is generally provided by the Government on its website with specific sections published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government concerning the changes.
Like before, keeping good records and having the opt out notice will be just as important as having the Form 9 Notice. The risk of creating an agreement with greater security of tenure for a tenant than may be intended remains a live issue and knowledge of the new forms and requirements remains very important. Further, the creation of a periodic assured tenancy means the creation of a highly regulated tenancy, and farmers and landowners will need to ensure they comply with the statutory framework applicable to such agreements.
Whilst we will provide further articles when the forms become available, any concerned landlord should check for guidance on our website or otherwise seek specialist advice.
We advise regularly in relation to these matters and would be happy to discuss any aspects. You can contact Ian Thomas on 01872 307352 or [email protected]