SIR, The anonymous letter in last week’s Scottish Farmer regarding the recent Land Court case on compensation for improvements at Woodmill Farm in Fife wilfully misrepresents Scottish Land & Estates’ position on the matter.

Nowhere within our statement in the original article did SLE seek to ‘victim blame’, as is claimed. In many respects, our position is in keeping with that set out by the STFA in their comment which recognises that where lease changes occur, it is important for all involved to deal with issues such as improvements, and ensure documentation and processes are correctly followed which can prevent problems further down the line.

The correspondent may not choose to remember but it was Scottish Land & Estates who originally proposed the amnesty for improvements in February 2014 and, in this particular case, the tenant and landlord agreed to the vast majority of the 170 listed improvements through that amnesty.

Our experience suggests that both landlords and tenants prefer to avoid proceedings in the Land Court.

The judgment from the Land Court should not be distorted by the correspondent simply because he or she disagrees with the outcome.

Sarah-Jane Laing, Chief executive, Scottish Land & Estates