Rural Scotland People, Prosperity and Partnership

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CROFTING

Crofting offers a distinctive culture and way of life and has played an important role in helping to retain population in the remoter, rural areas of Scotland. The Government continues to help strengthen and support crofting communities by providing:

funding for the work of the Crofters Commission, responsible for the administration and development of crofting and with a duty to keep under review all matters relating to crofting;

assistance for the construction and improvement of croft houses;

grants for agricultural improvements;

livestock improvement schemes designed to help crofting townships improve the quality of their sheep and cattle;

grants to veterinary practices in the Highlands and Islands to ensure that veterinary services are available at a standard charge regardless of physical remoteness.

Crofter Housing

Croft Entrant Scheme

Crofting Trusts

Crofting trusts are a form of land ownership which provide a means of transferring power and responsibility to local communities in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The individual crofters retain all their rights under the Crofting Acts, including the right to buy their individual crofts, if they so wish, whilst the crofting trust provides a framework for ensuring good management for the townships in question and for exploiting development opportunities. The crofting trust concept has been pioneered recently in Assynt and Borve and Annishadder in Skye, although the Stornoway Trust provides a long-standing example of a more broadly based form of community ownership.

In the early part of the century, the Government acquired large areas of land to create new crofting townships and there are currently approximately 1,400 croft holdings owned by the Secretary of State extending to over 100,000 hectares. The Government is interested in exploring the possibility of transferring the ownership of this land to crofting trusts providing there is sufficient interest and support at the local level. We will be issuing a consultation paper seeking views on the scope for further crofting trusts both on The Scottish Office crofting estates and on crofting land currently in private ownership.