Over 1,100 landlords and tenants were asked their views on the houses they live in or let. The results show that many houses need upgrading with estimates of £146m to bring Scotland’s tenant farm houses up to grade.

Types of housing

The average tenanted farmhouse has seven or more rooms which only 12% of Scottish houses have. Ninety-two per cent of the houses were detached homes with over half of the houses in the same family for over 50 years. Just over half of tenant farmhouses have central heating with 63% having double glazing. Single-glazed farmhouses accounted for 27% of homes compared to the national average of 5%.

House conditions

Just over half of tenants said their housing was in acceptable condition and only 14% saying it was poor or very poor. Meanwhile landlords who answered the survey unsurprisingly said they let no houses which were in a poor or very poor condition. Landlords letting poor housing stock may have been unlikely to have filled in the survey.

Repairs

Just over 70% of tenants reported some sort of problem with their house. There was a rough estimate of £146m was offered to bring all tenanted farmhouses up to standard and a lower estimate of £58m to bring buildings to ‘tolerable’ standard, all excluding VAT.

The most common repair issues were:

  • Carbon monoxide alarms.
  • Free from damp.
  • Safe furnishings.
  • Smoke alarms.
  • Reasonable fixtures and fittings.
  • Wind and waterproof buildings.
  • Exterior structurally sound.
  • Electrics adequate and safe.
  • Know the law

    The survey shows that just over half of tenants and 40% of landlords knew that the responsibility for meeting the cost of repairing defective equipment lay with the tenants.

    Whilst 59% of tenants and 77% of landlords knew that responsibility for meeting the cost of replacing defective fixed equipment lay with the landlord.

    Sub-letting

    One in five tenant farms sublet houses which, if the survey represents typical farms, means there are 1,200 sublet houses in Scotland. Respondents said that 12% of sublet houses were poor or very poor with 40% being very good or excellent and just under half in an acceptable condition.

    Comment

    NFUS policy manager Gemma Cooper

    “The new report indicates a general need to improve the condition of tenanted housing on farms but recognises that, given the size and age of many farmhouses, the cost of undertaking such work could be substantial. Work needs to be undertaken to highlight the level of funding that may be available at a local authority level for improving tenanted housing. Given the cost involved, investigating a low interest loan scheme also merits examination.

    “What is also clear is the low level of understanding as to where responsibility for repairs and replacement lies, with the tenant responsible for repairing fixed equipment and the landlord responsible for replacing fixed equipment. Where this can become difficult in the current context, is where a lack of repair results in the need for a replacement. We need a system which is fair to both landlords and tenants, and this is not going to be an easy thing to achieve.

    “Industry is going to have to go back to the drawing board to better understand the nuances of this issue. NFUS will be taking the issue up with the Tenant Farming Commissioner as a first step to trying to get parties to sit down and discuss their options.”