When is a succession not a succession under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986?

One uncertainty which has lingered for many years is the question of whether the consensual grant of a farm tenancy before 14 November 1976 (the date of coming into force of the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976) counts as one of the two permitted statutory successions in the same way as would a similarly consensual grant of a tenancy after that date. Until now, there has been no direct case-law on this point, the only guidance being some obiter comments made by Jowitt J in Saunders v Ralph (1993) P & CR 335. His view was that "successions" could be deemed to have taken place before the enactment of legislation which permits them.