Commentary on Sections Part 10 – Agricultural Holdings Assignation Section 104 – Assignation of limited duration tenancies
597.Subsection (2) amends section 7 of the 2003 Act by inserting new subsections (3A), (3B) and (5A).
598.Currently, under section 7(3), the landlord can withhold consent to the proposed assignee of an LDT if there are reasonable grounds for doing so.
599.Section 104(2) amends section 7 of the 2003 Act so that, while the landlord can still withhold consent for a person who is not a near relative if there are reasonable grounds, the Act limits the grounds for objecting to a near relative. The inserted subsection (3A) removes reasonable grounds as a valid reason for objection so that the only grounds on which a landlord can withhold consent to assignation to a near relative are the following: that the person is not of good character, that the person does not have sufficient resources to enable the person to farm the holding efficiently, or that the person does not have adequate training or expertise in agriculture to enable the person to farm with reasonable efficiency.
600.The inserted subsection (3B) provides that this last ground of objection does not apply where the person is engaged or intending to enrol, within a specified period, in a course of relevant agricultural training that must be completed within four years of the date notice was given of the intention to assign. The person is also required to have made arrangements for the holding to be farmed efficiently while the person completes the course.
601.Section 104(2)(c) inserts a new subsection (5A) into section 7 which defines “near relative” for the purposes of new subsections (3A) and (3B).