One year as Commissioner for the Tenant Farming Sector

In September 2025, I took on the role of Commissioner for the Tenant Farming Sector because I believe a thriving tenant farming sector is essential to the future of English agriculture.

Over the past year, my office has brought tenants, landlords and advisers together through regional roundtables. We launched our first sector survey and shared key insights with sector stakeholders and Defra policy colleagues. These conversations and findings have helped us better understand the challenges people face and the importance of raising concerns before relationships break down.

In this post, I’ll explain how we support the whole tenant farming sector, what we’ve heard and how it informs policy. I’ll also share why early contact matters, and our priorities for the next 12 months.

Supporting the whole tenant farming sector

The role was created as recommended in Baroness Rock’s review of the tenant farming sector. The Commissioner’s purpose is to encourage fair working relationships across the tenanted sector, guided by the Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice for England, which I’ll refer to as the Code.

One point I have been keen to emphasise since my appointment is that my role covers the whole tenant farming sector, not just tenants.

That distinction matters.

Good tenancy relationships depend on everyone involved working constructively together, including tenants, landlords, agents and solicitors. My office helps encourage constructive conversations and relationships.

Listening is central to this role, and I have been encouraged by how willing people have been to share their experiences.

By listening during our casework, engagements and conversations, we have gained a deeper understanding of the challenges facing tenants, landlords and advisers across the sector.

Several consistent themes have emerged from these conversations including:

different interpretations of contractual terms the importance of timely communication professional conduct, including treating everyone involved in tenancy relationships fairly and respectfully pressures on farm businesses including from local enforcement bodies global market downturn varied perceptions of what good modern tenancy arrangements should look like uncertainty about land management schemes and environmental opportunities balanced against traditional practices and food production

With more farmers taking part in Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreements, Landscape Recovery projects, biodiversity initiatives and emerging private markets for nature, people want to understand how tenants can take part fairly and how benefits and responsibilities are shared.

These are often complex issues with no simple answers. Open and constructive dialogue between all parties helps us understand the detail of each issue and identify insights that my team can share anonymously with relevant colleagues in Defra and delivery bodies to inform future policy design.

Helping your experiences shape policy

Turning what we hear into evidence for policy is an important part of our work alongside investigations. Much of this takes place behind the scenes, helping to strengthen understanding of tenant farming issues in wider policy discussions.

We have worked closely with Defra policy colleagues, sharing insights from the sector and contributing evidence through the joint Defra and industry-led ‘Farm Tenancy Forum’. This helps ensure the lived experiences of those involved in agricultural tenancies are better understood by policymakers.

We also launched our first anonymous survey of the tenant farming sector. The results show respondents’ views on relationships, their experiences and their awareness of the Commissioner and the Code. They’ve helped us identify areas for future work.

We shared our findings with representative bodies to highlight the sentiment and challenges reported. We’ll use these results as a starting point to assess our progress in future years.

Our regional roundtables have brought people from across the sector together to discuss common challenges and opportunities. The most recent, in Cornwall, showed the value of creating space for frank, constructive conversations. These discussions can reveal insights formal consultations could miss.  

My team and I have also attended industry conferences, agricultural shows, representative body meetings and other events across the country. In the last 6 months, we have: 

taken part in almost 150 separate discussions about tenancy matters  conducted 75 case meetings  taken part in more than 60 other in-person and online engagements, visits, and events 

Our regular regional roundtables have been among the most effective ways to bring people together. 

Why raising concerns early matters 

One of the clearest lessons from our first year is the value of raising concerns early. 

Investigating individual cases of relationship or contractual problems is a major part of our work. Each case is different, but together they help us identify recurring concerns and build a broader picture of the issues affecting the sector.

In a significant number of cases, people contact us only after relationships have broken down or legal proceedings, arbitration or notices to quit are already underway. By then, options become limited, positions become harder to change, trust more difficult to rebuild, and solutions more costly for all parties.

My advice is simple: do not wait until a disagreement becomes a crisis. Raising concerns with my office early gives us more opportunity to identify constructive solutions that may work for both sides.

Even if you are not sure you have a formal case, my office is available to everyone in the sector to raise questions and concerns.

You can contact us through the GOV.UK service or via our mailbox at ctfs@defra.gov.uk.

Looking ahead

Thank you to everyone who has spoken with us, responded to our survey, attended an event or shared experiences, ideas and concerns. I’m also grateful to colleagues across Defra and the wider policy community who have helped establish and develop the office.

There is still much to do. Over the next year, we’ll focus on strengthening the evidence available to the sector. By sharing lessons, case studies and examples of good practice, alongside positive and negative experiences, we want to help people understand what good tenancy relationships look like and how to achieve better outcomes.

We’ll continue to raise awareness of the Commissioner and the Code through more regional roundtables and new ways of sharing our work and findings. A follow-up survey will help us understand what difference our first year’s work has made.

We also want to keep hearing from people across England. We welcome invitations to visit farms and organisations’ offices or join meetings online. These conversations help strengthen collaboration and identify emerging issues early.

I remain committed to supporting a thriving, professional and resilient tenant farming sector. That means promoting the Code, encouraging open discussion and helping people build stronger working relationships.

The sector faces considerable challenges, but it also has significant opportunities through food production, environmental work and its contribution to rural economies. Working together will help tenants, landlords and advisers make the most of those opportunities.

https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2026/11/05/one-year-as-commissioner-for-the-tenant-farming-sector/

seen at 14:43, 5 November in Farming.