and promotes the interests of crofting in Scotland
to secure the future of crofting.
Apportionment of Common Grazings
What is an Apportionment?
An Apportionment is an area of the common grazings that is allocated to a shareholder (or sometimes to a township) and is fenced off or enclosed from the remainder of the grazings for their own exclusive use.
Who can apply?
If you want exclusive use of an area of common grazings land for the purposes of stock management, agricultural buildings, or a house site, then this is the correct application type for you. The land will remain in crofting tenure when it is apportioned.
If you wish to use the common grazings for a purpose other than cultivation, as a communal proposal, the Grazings Committee will need to apply under section 50B of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993. ‘Use of Common Grazings for other purposes’
If you wish to use the common grazings for a communal woodland/forestry proposal, then the Grazings Committee will need to apply under section 50 of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993. Please visit Crofter Forestry for further information.
If the woodland/forestry is to be for your own exclusive use as a crofter, then you can still apply for an individual apportionment for this purpose.
To find the correct form, please refer to the form finder.
The Crofting Commission uses a system with ‘parameters’ to decide how to process Apportionment applications. Parameters are criteria that the Crofting Commission has agreed on. If an application meets all the parameters, it is considered to be a ‘straightforward’ application. Straightforward applications can be processed and decided more quickly by Casework Officers.
Here are some examples of parameters for Apportionment of Common Grazings applications:
The purpose for the apportionment is:
- Stock management (and the applicant currently has stock)
- An agricultural building (existing or proposed)
- The site of an existing or proposed dwelling house, which is less than 0.4ha
- Planting trees/use as woodland for the exclusive use of the crofter.
- There are no objections to the proposal eg negative submissions from the grazings committee, or any of the shareholders or the owner of the common grazings
- The applicant is or will be ordinarily resident within 32 kilometres of the croft
- The application does not include any access to the remainder of the common grazings or to other croft land. If it does, then there must be suitable, existing, alternative access to that land.
If an application does not meet all the parameters, it is considered to be a more complex application. Complex applications are considered and decided by more senior staff at the Crofting Commission. Complex applications will take longer to process. For more information on the decision-making process, please refer to ‘How your decisions are made on applications.
Please note that all Apportionment Application are considered at Tier 2.
What you need to apply:
- Apportionment Application Form
- Detailed site map of the area being applied for. See the page on Maps for more information.
- If the proposed use of the apportionment requires planning permission, the Commission will require:
- a copy of the planning permission,
- or documents showeing that an application for planning permission has been made
- or a document showing that planning permission is not required.
- Registers of Scotland Crofting Register application (more info below on the steps to do this, which depends on whether the croft is already registered or not).
Please Note - The Crofting Commission will consult the Grazings Committee (or Constable) as part of the process. We therefore strongly recommend that you consult with them before you apply. This may allow any concerns about the size, location or boundaries of the area you want to apportion to be resolved informally, reducing the possibility of time -consuming disputes arising during the processing of your application, and for it to be decided sooner.
Application form
It is important to read the guidance notes fully before and as you complete the application form. These notes will tell you what information you need to include in your application and what other documents you need to submit.
It is also important to consider the decision parameters when preparing your application.
If the application doesn’t meet the parameters, if objections are received, if there is any inconsistencies between the application and the Register of Crofts, or if the application is not completed correctly it will take longer to process your application.
You can submit your apportionment application online or by post. To find the correct form you need, please refer to the form finder.
Here is a summary of the key points:
- Read the guidance notes before you fill out your apportionment application.
- Consider the parameters when preparing your application.
- You can submit your application online or by post
Registers of Scotland Application
Registers of Scotland hold the Crofting Register, which is a map based register of croft land. If you are applying to apportion land, you may need to register your croft with Registers of Scotland for the first time.
If your croft is not already registered, you may need to submit a ‘First Registration (FORM A’) application, along with your Apportionment application. This may not be required if the grazings share you are applying to apportion is entered in the Commission’s Register of Crofts as a separate croft from the croft land, and if the common grazings is already registered on the Crofting Register. Please refer to the Registers of Scotland website for more information.
If you do need to submit a ‘First Registration (FORM A’) application, you need to provide a map of your croft boundary. For details of how to prepare a map of your croft, and the correct form, please refer to the Registers of Scotland website. The Commission is unable to decide your apportionment application until your croft is registered.
If your croft is already registered, you will need to submit a Subsequent Event (FORM B) application if your application is approved. Details of what you need to do to and the timescale for making the FORM B application will be provided in the letter sent to you by the Crofting Commission if your Apportionment application is approved. The Apportionment takes effect on the date of its registration.
If required, you should submit your First Registration (FORM A) or Subsequent Event (FORM B) application to the Crofting Commission by post. There is a fee of £90 which is paid when you submit your registration application. This can be paid by cheque to the Crofting Commission, or by bank transfer (details here?). The Crofting Commission will check your application and forward it to Registers of Scotland.
Here is a summary of the key points:
- You may need to register your croft land with the Registers of Scotland, if you are applying for an Apportionment, but please check the Registers of Scotland website to see if this is required. If this is required, you need to submit a First Registration (FORM A) application.
- You will be told in the decision letter if you need to submit a Subsequent Event (FORM B) application, and the timescale for sending the FORM B to the Crofting Commission.
- A fee of £90 is payable when you submit your Registers of Scotland application (FORM A or B).
- The Crofting Commission will forward your registration application, and the fee, to Registers of Scotland.
Once the Crofting Commission has received your completed Apportionment application, and map, we will check to make sure that you have filled out the correct form and submitted all the required information. If you have not submitted everything correctly, we will inform you and you will have a specified amount of time to submit the information requested.
Once the Commission has confirmed that your application, and accompanying maps are valid, the Crofting Commission’s Mapping Team will prepare a map of the area of the common grazings you are applying to apportion. This is done to ensure all apportionment maps are in a standard format and scale, as the maps are attached to the formal Apportionment Order granted by the Crofting Commission, once an apportionment application is approved. The Commission will send you the map and if you agree that it correctly shows the area of the common grazings you are applying to apportion, you will be asked to sign, date, and return it (either by post or email). You will be able to correct anything on the Commission’s map before it is finalised. Once the application has been agreed , you will then be provided with guidance on how to advertise your application.
There is a 28-day period for the Grazings Committee, any of the shareholders or the landlord or owner of the common grazings, to submit any comments to the Crofting Commission about your application, once the advert appears in a local newspaper. You will be sent a copy of any submissions that are made to the Commission, whether they object to or are in support of your application.
The local Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division (SGRPID) office will be asked to prepare a report on your application, and they may carry out a site visit to do this. This can take several months.
If your croft needs to be registered on the Crofting Register, the Commission is unable to take a decision until this has been done. Applications which meet all of the decision parameters can be approved more quickly. If your application does not meet any of the parameters, it may take longer to be decided. Please refer to ‘How your application is processed’ for more information.
Here is a summary of the key points:
- The Crofting Commission will check your application to make sure that it is complete and correct.
- The Commission will send you the map and if you agree that it correctly shows the area of the common grazings you are applying to apportion, you will be asked to sign, date, and return it.
- You will then be provided with guidance on how to advertise your application.
There is a 28-day period for comments to be made - The local Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division (SGRPID) office will be asked to prepare a report on your application, and they may carry out a site visit to do this. This can take several months.
- The Crofting Commission cannot make a decision on your application if your croft is not registered with the Registers of Scotland.
If your application is approved, the Commission will grant an ‘Apportionment Order’ (the Order) with an accompanying map. The Order will normally include a condition that the apportioned land is fenced and made stockproof within 2 years.
As the land being apportioned is for the individual use of a crofter the number of livestock they are entitled to keep (their souming) on the remaining common grazing is reduced. The Order will therefore normally include a condition ‘reducing or extinguishing’ the applicant’s souming or share entitlement. This will remain unless the apportionment is ended and the land returns to the common grazings.
In some cases, the Commission may decide that the apportionment should only be granted for a specific period of time (usually a minimum of 15 years), and this is referred to as a ‘Termed Apportionment’. In such cases, if the crofter wishes to continue to use the apportioned area beyond the end of the term approved by the Commission, they can apply to the Commission for an extension, but this must be done before the end of the term referred to in the Apportionment Order.
All applicants will need to confirm that the apportionment has taken effect (become legally binding) by either completing and returning a form that is sent by the Crofting Commission or by submitting a Subsequent Event (FORM B) application. This must be done within 3 months of the apportionment application being approved.
It is important to note that the time limits for completing Form B, and registering the apportionment, are set by law, and the Crofting Commission cannot extend them.
The Crofting Commission will notify Registers of Scotland of the apportionment and will ask them to update the Crofting Register to record this. The applicant, the Grazings Committee (or Grazings Constable) and the landlord/owner of the common grazings will then be notified of when the apportionment takes effect.
If your application is refused, you will be informed of the reason(s), and you have the option to appeal the Crofting Commission’s decision to the Scottish Land Court. Please refer to the Appeals page for more information.
