Practical help for tenant farmers, landlords and agents
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Disagreements can arise in any tenancy.
The Tenant Farming Mediation Scheme offers a practical, confidential way for landlords and tenants to resolve issues without going to court.
It’s designed to help both sides reach a fair and workable solution through independent mediation, saving time, reducing stress, and supporting constructive relationships.
Mediation is a voluntary process where an independent, trained mediator helps both parties talk openly, understand each other’s point of view, and agree a way forward. It’s not about deciding who’s right or wrong, it’s about finding common ground.
Mediation can be used to address a wide range of issues in agricultural tenancies, such as:
You can use mediation at any stage of a disagreement - early, before positions become entrenched, or later, when other routes haven’t worked.
It can be used alongside professional advice or legal guidance. Mediation is not a substitute for your legal rights, but it can help avoid formal dispute.
The scheme is open to:
To take part, all parties need to agree to a few simple conditions:
If you’re unsure whether your situation meets these criteria, you can contact us for advice before deciding.
Consider if mediation is right for you
Review the scheme criteria to check you’re eligible and download the application form.
Speak with the Tenant Farming Commissioner’s team
Before applying, you can discuss your situation with the TFC. They’ll help you understand whether mediation is suitable and answer any questions about the process.
Submit your application
Complete the and send it to the TFC, either by email as a PDF, or by post. The TFC will review your application and may contact you to discuss details.
Eligibility and next steps
You’ll be informed whether your case can proceed under the scheme.
Agreeing costs and terms
Mediators on the TFC’s panel can claim up to £1,000 (+VAT) in funding from the Scottish Land Commission toward the cost of each approved mediation.
Parties taking part share the remaining cost equally and make payment directly to the mediator once terms are agreed.
The mediation session
The mediator will meet with both parties, together or separately, to help clarify issues and explore solutions.
If an agreement is reached, it can be written up as a record of what’s been decided.
Mediation is confidential, voluntary, and impartial. The mediator’s role is to support communication, not to take sides or make decisions.
TFC Mediation Scheme application form
A form to provide details about a tenancy dispute and assess eligibility for the TFC Mediation Scheme.
Rachael Bicknell
Rachael mediates a broad range of business, commercial, civil, neighbour, and workplace conflicts, from those which have a strong emotional impact, to those where the parties are more commercially driven. She is empathetic, engaging, inquisitive and tenacious. She works hard to put the parties at ease, to help them better understand each other, to see things differently, and to become invested in creatively exploring a way forward.
Rachael has fond memories of rural life on her grandfather’s dairy farm and her love of the Scottish countryside continues to this day. As part of her mediation practice, she seeks to apply this understanding of the rural industry to the commercial issues faced by those who live and work within this sector.
Lindsay Burley
Lindsay has mediated for 17 years, carrying out over 300 mediations in the commercial, court, workplace, complaints and agricultural holdings sectors. Over the last four years she has led or co-mediated six mediations between landlords and tenant farmers, initially under the auspices of a Scottish Government project and subsequently for the Scottish Land Commission pilot. Lindsay mediates across Scotland and has considerable experience of virtual mediations, mostly using Zoom technology.
As a member of the SLC Panel, she may use a co-mediation model, working in partnership with Crispin Agnew, Robin Burley or Pamela Lyall. There will also be opportunities to design short early dispute resolution meetings for parties where appropriate.
Robin Burley
Robin has been mediating for 17 years and carried out over 300 mediations in commercial, workplace, planning, in-court, complaints and agricultural holdings disputes. Robin has a Masters in mediation and dispute resolution from Strathclyde University and is actively engaged in developing mediation, including as past chair of Scottish Mediation.
Robin co-ordinated mediation services for Scottish Government and Scottish Land Commission contracts dealing with seven agricultural holdings disputes and co-mediated four. His approach is to design each mediation to fit the case offering fixed-fee early dispute mediation to full mediation processes. In appropriate cases Robin will co-mediate with Lindsay Burley, Crispin Agnew or Pamela Lyall.
David Hossack
A Partner in Morton Fraser, David has over 32 years' experience in dispute resolution. His practice covers commercial litigation, judicial review, personal injury litigation, immigration, employment and licensing. David trained as a mediator in 2003 and has been heavily involved in mediation since, mediating in more than 100 disputes in Scotland and across the UK.
David is one of only four lawyers accredited as specialists in commercial mediation by the Law Society of Scotland. He has been a mediator in the Edinburgh Sheriff Court mediation project since 2004.
David co-mediates with Laura McKenna, who is also on the SLC panel.
Laura A. McKenna
Laura is a Senior Associate Director and is Head of McKee Campbell Morrison's Employment law and HR division.
With years of experience in litigation and resolving disputes, Laura has specialised in employment law for most of her career. She provides advice to both employers and employees on a broad range of employment issues, including negotiating and resolving complex disputes, representing clients at employment tribunal hearings and general advisory work on contracts, exits, redundancies and business transfers.
As well as appearing on behalf of clients at the Employment Tribunal, Laura is trained as a mediator and is well versed in finding the most appropriate way of resolving disputes.
Sandy Wilson
Sandy is a Scottish Mediation Registered Mediator based in Humbie, East Lothian. An Edinburgh Sheriff Court Mediation Service Mediator, he is accredited by Core Solutions Group Limited (2009). As a former senior career banker, Sandy has commercial experience gained over more than 35 years in problem solving environments including financial restructuring, litigation management and dispute resolution. His experience has long convinced him of the benefits of mediation over adversarial litigation.
Sandy’s mediation experience includes commercial disputes (banking, business to business, company valuation, contractual, construction, building works, land, property including rural and neighbour, professional negligence and intellectual property), consumer/utility, and landlord/tenant and factor disputes.
Sandy mediates throughout Scotland via face-to-face, teleconference or Zoom.
Further advice and information
Our tenant farming work is designed to give everyone involved the clarity and confidence they need to make decisions and maintain constructive relationships. This includes:
If you’d like to speak to someone, we are here to help.
There are 3 main ways to get in touch:
We handle all conversations sensitively. However, as a public body, we are subject to Freedom of Information legislation. You can read more about how we handle personal information in our privacy policy.
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