agus ag adhartachadh mathas croitearachd ann an Alba
gus croitearachd a dhèanamh tèarainte san àm ri teachd.
Suspected Failure by the Owner of a Vacant Croft to Cultivate and/or Reside on or near the Croft
What is a “Suspected Failure by the Owner of a Vacant Croft to Cultivate and Reside on or near the Croft” Notification?
“Owners of vacant crofts” are tenants who had purchased the crofts (or were their successors in title) but do not satisfy the conditions to be considered an owner-occupier crofter.
They will not be called upon for letting proposals providing they are cultivating the croft or putting the croft to another purposeful use and are ordinarily resident on or near the croft (please note the equivalent requirement for an owner-occupier crofter and tenant crofter is to be ordinarily resident on or within 32 kilometers of their croft)
If the Commission receive a notification that an owner of a vacant croft is not cultivating or putting the vacant croft to another purposeful use and/or is not resident on or near the vacant croft, the Commission will investigate and potentially serve a notice requiring letting proposals.
Who can use this notification?
A suspected failure to cultivate and or be resident can be submitted by:
- a grazings committee
- a grazings constable
- a member of the crofting community* within the township in which the croft is situated, which is the subject of the notification.
*A member of the crofting community is a person who occupies a croft in the same township as the croft to which the notification relates or holds shares in a common grazings associated with that township.
This is the correct form to use if you want to notify the Commission of an owner of a vacant croft who is not cultivating, or putting their croft to another purposeful use, and/or is not resident on or near their croft, as detailed above.
A copy of the notification form you submit may be sent by the Commission to the Owner of the vacant croft who is the subject of the report, and others, as per our privacy notice.
The notification must relate directly to the failure by the owner to cultivate and/or reside on or near their croft.
The notification form will be returned if it contains information which is thought to be frivolous or vexatious,’. Frivolous or Vexatious means a complaint that has no reasonable or sound basis in fact or law, is without merit, and/or has been brought with the primary intent or harassing, discrediting or subduing a Respondent.
The Commission is unable to accept anonymous notifications.
Notification Form
To notify the Commission please complete the ‘Notification of Suspected Failure by the Owner of a Vacant Croft to Cultivate and be Resident’ form.
You will be asked for information including:
- your details (name & address) and
- details of the croft to which the notification refers, including what you consider the owner of the vacant croft is failing to do.
We will commence an investigation into a suspected failure by an owner of a vacant croft to cultivate, or put the croft to another purposeful use, and/or be resident on or near their croft.
As part of our investigation, we will give the owner of the vacant croft the opportunity to respond to the notification.
If the Commission is satisfied that the owner of the vacant croft is cultivating their croft, or putting it to another purposeful use, and/or is resident on or near the croft, no further action will be taken.
Where the Commission considers the owner of the vacant croft is failing to cultivate their croft, or put it to another purposeful use, and/or is not resident on or near the croft, the Commission will allow the owner of the vacant croft an opportunity to remedy the failure, or apply to let the vacant croft, normally within 6 months.
If the owner of the vacant croft fails to take action as above within 6 months, the Commission will consider issuing a Notice under 23(5) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 requiring them to submit letting proposals for the croft.
