Farms and Land Solicitors

Eden Legal offers a focused land and rural business team with a wealth of experience of buying and selling farms and land for clients throughout Scotland. We have a genuine interest in our client’s objectives and our priority is to give the best advice to individuals and businesses operating in the rural sector.

In our view, it is important to get to know our clients and their land. That way, we develop an understanding of issues that may arise and can anticipate solutions before they become problems.

We offer a full purchase or sale service, from negotiation of contract terms to registration of your title. Where it is helpful, we can put you in touch with our wide network of professional contacts who may be able to offer you further assistance, for example with estate agency or arranging a finance structure for your deal.

Land Sales and Purchases

We always recommend a pre-sale review of your title prior to active marketing. We also encourage a detailed pre-offer meeting where discussions would include:

• review of any sales particulars.
• for any sale, liaising with you and your surveyor, noting the relationship between legal boundaries of the farm title and physical boundaries on the ground.
• for any purchase, establishing the use to which you intend to put the land.
• review of any lease agreements, grazing lets or licences to occupy land or any buildings.
• the Register of Community Interests in Land for any community body or tenant ‘right to buy’ notices.
• any third party access rights or rights to water / drainage.
• any agri-environmental schemes and whether or not basic payment entitlements are being sold with the land.
• any commercial or amenity woodland, any timber harvesting contracts and any planning permission for timber extraction.
• any radio mast sites, wind farm, hydro-electric or other renewable schemes.
• any employee rights.
• planning and building control issues and the status of adjacent roads and footpaths.

Land Management

We can assist with all ongoing land management and ownership matters, such as:

• agricultural leases and grazing lets.
• contract farming arrangements.
• servitudes (rights of access over land) and rights for services, whether for building plots or utility providers.
• boundary discrepancies.
• title burdens and Deeds of Conditions.
• voluntary registration of title in the Land Register of Scotland.
• transfer of basic payment entitlements, with or without land.
• advice concerning radio mast leases.
• mineral leases.
• renewable energy schemes.

Farming Partnerships

Many rural businesses operate under a partnership format. We can advise on and prepare partnership contracts for farm businesses and are happy to collaborate with clients’ tax advisors. We can also adjust existing partnership arrangements, including the appointment of and retirement of partners, adjustment of profit shares or capital ratios and dissolution agreements.

Business Succession Planning

As part of your succession planning strategy, we can assist with any transfers you would like to make to the next generation to regularise your affairs.

If you wish to discuss any rural land or business matter, including an annual check-up, please contact our team.