Section 21 Right of landlord to object to acquirer of lease.F1

The acquirer of the lease of an agricultural holding shall give notice of the acquisition to the landlord of the holding within twenty-one days after the date of the acquisition, or, if he is prevented by some unavoidable cause from giving such notice within that period, as soon as possible thereafter, and unless the landlord gives a counter-notice under the next following subsection, the lease shall be binding on the landlord and on the acquirer, as landlord and tenant respectively, as from the date of the acquisition.

Where notice as aforesaid has been given to the landlord he may, within one month after the giving of the notice, give to the acquirer a counter-notice intimating that he objects to receive him as tenant under the lease and not before the expiration of one month from the giving of the counter-notice the landlord may make application to the Land Court for an order terminating the lease.

The Land Court, if they are satisfied that the landlord has established any reasonable ground of objection, shall make such an order to take effect as from such term of Whitsunday or Martinmas as they may specify.

Pending any proceedings under this section, the acquirer, with the consent of the executor in whom the lease is vested under section 14 of the M1 Succession (Scotland) Act 1964, shall, unless the Land Court on cause shown otherwise direct, have possession of the holding.

The termination of the lease under this section shall be treated, for the purposes of the provisions of this Act with respect to compensation, as the termination of the acquirer’s tenancy of the holding; but nothing in this section shall be construed as entitling him to any compensation for disturbance.

In this section any reference in relation to the lease of an agricultural holding to an acquirer is a reference to any person to whom the lease is transferred under section 16 of the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964.