Felicity specialises in Agricultural and Rural Business law. She is Head of the Agricultural & Rural Business Department of Brethertons in Banbury. She acts for clients in all matters affecting the agricultural sector, including in sales, purchases, remortgages and inter-family transfers of land, as well as on issues affecting public rights of way and on some boundary issues. She is an experienced Agricultural Solicitor with a Masters in Agriculture Law, who advises in relation to agricultural quotas and subsidies, has a detailed knowledge of the Single Payment Scheme entitlements system, and advises clients considering entering the Entry Level and Higher Level Environmental Stewardship schemes, as well as those transferring land within these schemes, or acting for those acquiring land within these schemes.
Felicity has a detailed knowledge of the two statutes which govern agricultural lettings, namely the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 and the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995, which created the farm business tenancy. She advises clients in relation to the terms of grazing and/or mowing licences, of commercial leases of farm buildings, and of residential lettings on agricultural property. She undertakes complicated first registrations of large estates, and advises on the granting of easements, to individuals for rights of way, or the right to take clean water or to drain dirty water or sewage across another landowner’s property. She also advises landowners in the granting of wayleaves across their land to statutory undertakers for service conduits, or in matters relating to telecommunications providers, for example in issues relating to leases for mobile telephone masts.
With a solid understanding of the needs that face agricultural landowners, Felicity can advise on the granting of options by rural landowners for development, whether for residential or leisure development or forestry. She has acted for rural landowners in negotiations with energy companies for options and the transfer or lease for the building of windfarms, including a 7-turbine site in Buckinghamshire, fully operational since September 2010. She also has an interest in on-farm renewable energy options for farmers, including single wind turbines, plants for anaerobic digestion, or solar photovoltaic panels, whether ground- or roof-mounted. She is able to negotiate contractual clauses on sale or purchase for development uplift, also known as clawback. Felicity is also ready to advise on farming partnerships, whether to set up new ones, advise on the existence of an unwritten one, or work towards resolution of disputes in the event of farming partnership breakdown.
Felicity comes from a farming background and is an active member of the Agricultural Law Association (ALA), sitting on the Association’s Council, as well as being involved at regional level in the ALA. She also attends Women in Property events in the East Midlands, is a member of the Women in Rural Enterprise network, and is a professional member of both the National Farmers' Union and the Country Land & Business Association.
Tel: (01295) 661 529
Mobile: 07791 743654
Email: felicitywyatt@brethertons.co.uk
