Letting a grazings share

‘Letting’ is the term used when a landlord or owner-occupier crofter grants the tenancy of a grazings share to a tenant with our consent.

Who can apply?

• A landlord of a vacant grazings share
• An owner-occupier crofter who owns a grazings share

Is this the right application for me?

• This is the correct application if you want to let the tenancy of a grazings share on a permanent basis.
• If the grazings share is already held in tenancy and your croft title deeds don’t mention that you own the rights to the grazings share, you should use an ‘assignation of a grazings share’ application instead.

Things to consider

• An owner-occupier crofter who lets their grazings share permanently will become the landlord of that share.
• A grazings share held in joint ownership cannot be let to one of the joint owners, and all owners of the grazings share must apply together.
• If the common grazings has multiple owners, you must notify each of the owners about your application in writing.
• A rent, however nominal, must be charged to the tenant and you must confirm that you have a tenancy agreement.
• A landlord of a vacant grazings share or an owner-occupier crofter (having notified their landlord) can apply to let a vacant grazings share as a separate unit or as an enlargement to another tenanted croft.  

Getting approval quickly

We use a set of simple rules called 'parameters' to assess your application for letting a grazings share. If your application meets every parameter, and no one objects, we can approve it more quickly.

Check list

Your application must meet all these points for a quick decision:

• Residency: The proposed tenant must live within 32 km of the common grazings or move there within 18 months of obtaining the tenancy.
• Share use: The proposed tenant must provide evidence that they will use the grazings share.
• Skills: The proposed tenant must have the skills needed for their proposals for the grazings share.
• Other crofts: They must occupy 5 or fewer crofts in total and they must not have other grazings share(s) in the township.
• Community: There must be no objections from any member of the crofting community.
• Demand: No other person is applying for the tenancy and there are no vacant grazings shares in the township.

If your application does not meet all the simple rules, it is treated as a complex application. This means it is passed to senior staff for review, and the decision will take longer to process.

How do I apply?

You must submit a completed ‘letting a grazings share’ application form. Please read the guidance notes first. If your application doesn't match the register of crofts or is incomplete, we won't be able to process it. You can submit your application online or by post. First, search for your croft and then find the correct form.

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You must also include:

• Advert copy: You must advertise the application in a local newspaper for a 28-day public consultation period. The advert must appear no earlier than one month before and no later than two months after submission.
• Notifications: You must provide evidence that you have notified all owners of the common grazings. A letter confirming they have received your notification or evidence of registered post or recorded delivery is suitable.
• Registers of Scotland applications: Each Registers of Scotland application has a fee of £90. We will process and forward these applications on your behalf.
  • If the grazings share is part of an existing croft, you may need to submit a first registration (Form A) to register the whole croft within 6 months of your letting application.
  • If the grazings share is a deemed croft and a standalone grazings share entry in our register of crofts, you will need to submit a first registration Form A to register that share within 6 months of your letting application.
  • If the croft, deemed croft, or common grazings is already registered on Registers of Scotland’s crofting register and your letting application is approved, a subsequent event Form B will need to be submitted within a specified timescale. The decision letter will tell you who needs to submit this form.

The process

• Initial checks: We'll check the application for completeness and ensure all advertising and notification requirements are met.
• Consultation: We allow 28 days for the public to submit comments or objections.
• Decision: We aim to make a decision on straightforward applications that meet all the parameters within 16 weeks.

What happens after a decision?

We will notify the applicant, the proposed new tenant, and other involved parties of our decision within 21 days. Failure to submit the required forms within the set time limits means the let will not take effect.

• If approved:
  • If registering with Registers of Scotland for the first time: The applicant must notify us (within 3 months of approval) that the let has taken effect. The let takes effect on the date provided in this notification.
  • If already registered: The let takes effect on the date the subsequent Event (Form B) is registered.
• If refused: You have 42 days to appeal our decision to the Scottish Land Court. You can find more information about this on our appeals page.