and promotes the interests of crofting in Scotland
to secure the future of crofting.
Letting
Letting is the term used when a croft, or part of a croft tenancy is Let by the landlord or owner-occupier crofter to a tenant.
An owner-occupier crofter who lets the tenancy of their croft will then become the landlord of the croft and their owner-occupier crofter status would cease to apply.
Every tenancy of a croft will be subject to the conditions set out in Schedule 2 to the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 (in the Act referred to as "the statutory conditions”).
Delegated Decision Making Parameters
Letting of a vacant croft by a landlord- Section 23(3) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993
Letting of an owner-occupied croft by an owner-occupier crofter other than on a short term lease - Section 29A of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993
Whole Croft
A straightforward approval can be made if:
- The proposed tenant will be ordinarily resident within 32 kilometres of the croft, or will be within 18 months of obtaining the croft tenancy
- The proposed tenant has provided evidence that they will cultivate the croft
- The proposed tenant has the skills to carry out their proposals for the croft
- There have been no objections from the crofting community
- There have been no expressions of demand for the tenancy of the croft
If any of these conditions are not met, the application will be escalated.
Part Croft
Part Croft Letting by a Landlord - Section 23(3) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993
Part Croft Letting by an owner-occupier crofter other than on a short term lease - Section 29A of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993
A straightforward approval can be made if:
- The proposed tenant will be ordinarily resident within 32 kilometres of the croft, or will be within 18 months of obtaining the croft tenancy
- The proposed tenant has provided evidence that they will cultivate the croft
- The proposed tenant has the skills to carry out their proposals for the croft
- There are no concerns over the size and quality of either of the crofts resulting from the let of part of the croft
(As a guideline, in order to be sustainable, the Commission would generally look for both of the crofts resulting from the let to be a minimum of 3 hectares in extent (with or without an associated grazing right, or 1 hectare with an associated grazing right)
- Letting part of the croft will not create any access issues
- There have been no objections from the crofting community
- There have been no expressions of demand for the tenancy of the croft
If any of these conditions are not met, the application will be escalated.
Please ensure you submit your Registers of Scotland (RoS) Registration Application form along with your application, if required.
Please note that when you are completing the Registration Application for RoS you are required to advise them of persons who own/occupy any adjacent croft or land, as our ROC is not mapped based the Commission cannot assist you with this information.
