and promotes the interests of crofting in Scotland
to secure the future of crofting.
Decrofting
Decrofting is the term used when land is removed from crofting tenure.
The Landlord of a tenanted croft who wishes to remove land from crofting tenure must make an application to the Scottish Land Court. This is called resumption and has the same effect as decrofting.
PLEASE NOTE, in any application involving or affecting access to the croft, provisions for sufficient vehicular access must be clearly marked on plans submitted with the application. Please take the time to consider any issues relating to access to the croft carefully before submitting the application to us. This may help avoid delays in dealing with your case. To take account of modern vehicles and equipment, access to the croft should be at least 4 metres wide.
Delegated Decision Making Parameters
CROFT HOUSE SITE AND GARDEN GROUND
Decrofting house site and garden ground by a landlord or tenant - Sections 24 and 25(1)(b) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993.
Decrofting house site and garden ground by an owner-occupier crofter - Sections 24A and 25(1)(b) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993.
Has the correct application form been used?
- To be processed as a statutory house site the structure must be wind and watertight, and
- the applicant must not have previously decrofted a house site under Section 25(1)(b) provisions in relation to this croft.
If "No" to either, the application must be dealt with as a part croft decrofting.
We will return the application and advise a part croft decrofting application must be submitted.
Important note for applications by tenants in advance of purchase:
The Crofter's Act provides that a tenant shall be entitled to a conveyance of the site of the dwelling-house on the croft he/she tenants. Therefore, the Commission strongly encourage applicants to agree with their landlord the extent and boundaries of the area to be applied for, before submitting the application, so that it reflects the site they are entitled to purchase under the dwelling-house provisions.
A straightforward approval can be made if:
- There are no other buildings included in the area that are/could be used as agricultural buildings.
- There are no concerns over access to the remainder of the croft
- There have been no negative submissions from the landlord
- The area applied for extends to no more than 0.40 hectares
If any of these conditions are not met, the application will be escalated.
Part Croft
Decrofting Part Croft by a landlord or tenant -Sections 24(3) and 25(1)(a) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993.
Decrofting Part Croft by an owner-occupier crofter - Sections 24A and 25(1)(a) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993.
A straightforward approval can be made if:
- The application is for a reasonable purpose
- The area relates to a dwellinghouse and/or to additional amenity ground and the combined total area of house and garden is 0.40 hectares or less
- There are no other buildings included in the area that are/could be used as agricultural buildings
- There are no concerns over access to the remainder of the croft
- There have been no negative submissions
- There is no more than one decrofting application being considered at the same time
If any of these conditions are not met, the application will be escalated.
WHOLE CROFT
Decrofting Whole Croft by a landlord or tenant - Sections 24(3) and 25(1)(a) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993.
Decrofting Whole Croft by an owner-occupier crofter - Sections 24A and 25(1)(a) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993.
These parameters only apply where it relates to a small residual site, including the site of a house. All whole croft decrofting applications which exceed 0.40 hectares will be escalated.
A straightforward approval can be made if:
- The application is for a reasonable purpose
- The area is 0.40 hectares or less
- There are no other buildings included in the area that are/could be used as agricultural buildings
- There are no concerns over access to the remainder of the croft or common grazing land
- In the case of an application by a tenant, there have been no negative submissions from the landlord
- There have been no negative submissions from the community
- Demand has not been expressed for the tenancy
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.
