and promotes the interests of crofting in Scotland
to secure the future of crofting.
Division
Division is the term used when a croft is separated to create two or more units. If an owner-occupier crofter wishes to sell or otherwise transfer ownership of part of their croft, they must first obtain the Commission’s consent to divide the croft in to the respective parts they wish to transfer and to keep.
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
Division by a Tenant - Section 9 of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993
Division by Owner-occupier crofter - Section 19D of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993
A straightforward approval can be made if:
- The division will not create any access issues
- There are no concerns over the size and quality of either croft created by the division.
(As a guideline the Commission would look for any new croft to be either: 3 hectares, with or without an associated grazing right or 1 hectare with an associated grazing right)
- There are no concerns over the proposed use of the new crofts created by the division
- There is no demand expressed for the tenancy
- There have been no objections
If any of these conditions are not met, the application will be escalated.
Division by Executor (other than an application to divide the statutory dwelling house from the remainder of the croft) - Sections 9 & 10 of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993.
The applicant must provide evidence they are the executor of the deceased crofter either by:
- A provision of the Will, or
- Through a grant of confirmation by the Court.
If the applicant has not demonstrated they are the executor the application will be retuned as invalid.
A straightforward approval can be made if:
- The landlord has not expressed any concerns over the area to be divided
- The division will not create any access issues
- There are no concerns over the size and quality of either crofts created by the division
- There are no concerns over the proposed use of the new crofts created by the division
If any of these conditions are not met, the application will be escalated.
Division by executor where it relates to a bequest of the tenancy of the part of the croft comprising the site of the dwelling house to one natural person and the tenancy of the remaining part to one other such person - Sections 10(4A)a 58A(6A) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993.
The deceased crofter must not have previously decrofted a statutory croft house site & garden ground.
The applicant must provide evidence they are the executor of the deceased crofter either by:
- A provision of the Will, or
- Through a grant of confirmation by the Court.
If the deceased crofter has previously decrofted the statutory croft house site and garden ground the application will be dealt with under the general Division Application of a tenanted croft by an executor.
If the applicant has not demonstrated they are the executor the application will be retuned as invalid.
A straightforward approval can be made if:
- The area applied for does not exceed 0.20(ha)
- There are no other buildings included
- Access to the remainder of the croft is not included in the area applied for
- The landlord has not expressed any concerns
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.
