Table of Contents
What is a crofting tenure?
Crofting is a form of land tenure which is unique to Scotland. A croft is a relatively small agricultural land holding which is normally held in tenancy and which may or may not have buildings or a house associated with it. A crofter is the tenant or owner-occupier of a croft.
What does crofting land mean?
A croft is a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable, and usually, but not always, with a crofter’s dwelling thereon. A crofter is one who has tenure and use of the land, typically as a tenant farmer, especially in rural areas.
What is crofting in Scotland?
Crofting is a system of landholding, which is unique to Scotland, and is an integral part of life in the Highlands & Islands. More than 750,000 hectares of land in Scotland is in crofting tenure, with approximately 33,000 people living in crofting households.
When did crofting start in Scotland?
The Highland Clearances to the Crofting Act of 1886 The first phase of the Highland Clearances started in the 1750s when large landowners evicted small tenant farmers from their land to establish large scale sheep farms.
What are crofting rights?
Crofting community right to buy is a right that can be exercised at any time. This distinguishes it from community right to buy, as land can be acquired without the consent of the owner.
What are crofting rules?
Those duties are that you must be ordinarily resident on, or within 32 kilometres of, the croft; you must not misuse or neglect the croft, you must cultivate the croft, or put it to another purposeful use.
What’s the difference between a farm and a croft?
“farm”, as a noun, can refer to anything agricultural land up to a huge corporate agribusiness enterprise. “croft” implies a small single-family farm; connotes that animal husbandry occurs in the acreage.
What is a crofting village?
Crofting is a traditional social system in Scotland defined by small-scale food production. Crofting is characterised by its common working communities, or “townships”. Individual crofts are typically established on 2–5 hectares (5–121⁄2 acres) of in-bye for better quality forage, arable and vegetable production.
How do you get into crofting?
You can become a crofter by:
- buying a croft – that is presently owner-occupied and becoming an owner-occupier.
- becoming a tenant – for example, renting a vacant croft or a crofter transfers their tenancy to you.
- subletting – from a tenant crofter for a limited time.
Who owns crofts in Scotland?
the Crofting Commission
Under the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, the Crofting Commission is responsible for crofting regulation in Scotland. We’re responsible for the registration of crofts.
Can I build a house on a croft?
Enabling more people to live on or near their croft and work their land is key. Crofting legislation entitles a crofter to build a croft house on the croft, subject to planning consent. In almost every case the croft house must be provided by the crofter themselves.
Can you build on croft land?
Is crofting tenure relevant to land registration in Scotland?
The areas where crofting tenure may be relevant to land registration are covered below. Section 34 of the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 (‘the 2010 Act’) inserted a new section 19D into the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 (“the 1993 Act”).
Crofting is a land tenure system of small scale food producers unique to the Scottish Highlands and Islands. It provides tenants with security provided they pay their rent, live on or near their croft and work the land. Why Crofting is good for Scotland
Can a tenant use a croft for purposeful use in Scotland?
Yes, the provision for a tenant to use their croft for a purposeful use, other than cultivation, was introduced by the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 2007. A tenant must apply to the landlord for written consent before putting the croft to such purposeful use.
Can you have more than one croft in the Highlands?
Some crofters have the tenancy of more than one croft, and in-croft absenteeism means that tenancies are held but crofts are not farmed. About 33,000 family members lived in crofting households, or around 10\% of the population of the Highlands and Islands.
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