Which document should you use:
PR105 Lease of agricultural buildings for non-agricultural use
This is a standard business lease with additions which may be relevant to the rural character of the land and buildings let. If the letting is for a use which is substantially agricultural, use a farm business tenancy agreement. If you are not sure whether the tenant will or will not carry on a business, use this document.
PR106 Lease of equestrian establishment for business use
This is a standard business lease with additions which may be relevant to the letting of an equestrian establishment. If the letting is for a use which is substantially agricultural (not equestrian except a stud farm), use a farm business tenancy agreement. If you are not sure whether the tenant will or will not carry on an equestrian business, use this document.
PR107 Lease of land for equestrian / non-business use
This is a lease outside the Landlord and Tenant Act, only because it is for a non-business use. If you think the tenant may use in part for a business, use PR105 or a farm business tenancy agreement. If the tenant uses the land or buildings for any business, he will also be in breach of the terms of this agreement.
PR140 Grazing agreement
This is a short term licence outside the terms of the Landlord and Tenant Act and the Agricultural Tenancies Act. It is like a contract to take what grows on the land, rather than occupy the land. It gives no rights to the licensee and can be terminated easily. Use only for a period of less than 12 months. Renew with a fresh agreement after 12 months, provided the licensee has completely vacated the land for at least a few days.
PR141 Licence to occupy land with stables
Use to license land for equestrian use, with or without stables or other buildings. Business use not allowed. This is a simpler form of the lease PR107, suitable for a letting up to say five years of a field or two, for equestrian use. If the facilities and buildings are of substantial value, use PR107.
PR142 License to hold a show or competition
Use for the occasion of any event taking place on agricultural land - equestrian, market, rally, fair, etc. This is an agreement with the organiser of the event. The event may take place on any number of days and additional time will be needed for setting out and packing up after cleaning. If the event organiser requires certainty / a legal right to ocupy, for example if he intends to spend substantial sums in promotion of the event, he may insist on a lease, such as PR105, but note that PR105 does not contain all of the provisions specific to event management.
About these documents
Any licence is outside of the statutory landlord and tenant framework. But the agreement has to reflect the name. You cannot just call an agreement a “licence” for it to be one. The effect of a licence is that:
· The tenant has no security.
· The landlord has to give no notice (or the limited notice set out in the agreement.
But there are some important provisos and considerations. We advise you to read our free information page on Lease or Licence. If your proposals do not comply with the requirements we set out, you should use some other document, as we explain there.
The Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 and the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 together provide the framework of current law on that subject. We tell you about those documents on their own page.
You should go in “with your eyes open” as to the damage to the surface of the land which can be inflicted by over use (such as jumping) and by wet weather. Since it is easier to obtain money from a licensee than to compel performance of covenants to spray or mend gates, we recommend that as many as possible of the maintenance tasks should be undertaken by the Licensor and covered in the global figure for the licence fee.
It is difficult to provide our usual full list of paragraph provisions as these documents differ so much from each other. Their essential common character is that they contain provisions for the protection of the land in ways not necessary in a lease of a shop or office building.
