Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1968

Section 14 S

Compensation for improvements and compensation for deterioration or damage. S

14 (1) Where—

(i) a crofter renounces his tenancy or is removed from his croft, or

(ii) the tenancy of a croft, being a tenancy the interest of the tenant under which is comprised in the estate of a deceased crofter, is terminated in pursuance of section 16(3) of the M1 Succession (Scotland) Act 1964,

the crofter or, as the case may be, the executor of the deceased crofter shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be entitled to compensation for any permanent improvement made on the croft if—

(a) the improvement is suitable to the croft; and

(b) the improvement was executed or paid for by the crofter or, as the case may be, the deceased crofter, or any of the predecessors of the crofter or of the deceased crofter in the tenancy; and

(c) either the improvement was executed otherwise than in pursuance of a specific agreement in writing under which the crofter or, as the case may be, the deceased crofter was bound to execute the improvement or, if the improvement was executed in pursuance of such an agreement, the crofter has not received or, as the case may be, the deceased crofter did not receive and his executor has not received, by way of reduction of rent or otherwise, fair consideration for the improvement.

(2) Where—

(a) a person on becoming the tenant of a croft has with the consent of the landlord aid to the outgoing tenant any compensation due to him in respect of any permanent improvement and has agreed with the Secretary of State to assume any outstanding liability to the Secretary of State of the outgoing tenant in respect of any loan made to him; or

(b) on a person becoming the tenant of a croft the Secretary of State on his behalf has paid to the landlord a sum representing the value to such person of an existing improvement on the croft;

such person shall for the purposes of the foregoing subsection be deemed to have executed or paid for the improvement.

For the purposes of paragraph (a) of this subsection a landlord who has not paid the compensation due either to the outgoing tenant or to the Secretary of State and has not applied to the Secretary of State to determine under subsection (4) of section twenty-three of this Act that any amount due by him to the Secretary of State by virtue of subsection (3) of that section shall be deemed to be a loan by the Secretary of State to him shall be deemed to have given his consent.

(3) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to any buildings erected by a crofter in contravention of any interdict or other judicial order.

(6) Where—

(a) a crofter renounces his tenancy or is removed from his croft, or

(b) the tenancy of a croft, being a tenancy the interest of the tenant under which is comprised in the estate of a deceased crofter, is terminated in pursuance of section 16(3) of the M2 Succession (Scotland) Act 1964,

the landlord shall be entitled to recover from the crofter or, as the case may be, from the executor of the deceased crofter compensation for any deterioration of, or damage to, any fixed equipment provided by the landlord committed or permitted by the crofter or, as the case may be, by the deceased crofter or his executor.

(7) The amount of the compensation payable under the last foregoing subsection shall be the cost, as at the date of the crofter’s quitting the croft, or as the case may be, of the termination of the tenancy, of making good the deterioration or damage; and the landlord shall be entitled to set off the amount so payable against any compensation payable by him in respect of permanent improvements.

(8) The amount of the compensation payable under subsection (1) or subsection (6) of this section shall, failing agreement, be fixed by the Land Court.

(9) Where—

(a) a crofter has given notice of renunciation of his tenancy, or

(b) the landlord of the croft either gives to the executor of a deceased crofter, or receives from such an executor, notice terminating the tenancy of the croft in pursuance of section 16(3) of the M3 Succession (Scotland) Act 1964,

the Land Court may, on the joint application of the crofter or, as the case may be, the executor of the deceased crofter and the landlord or, where the crofter’s rights to compensation for permanent improvements have been transferred in whole or in part under section twenty-three of this Act to the Secretary of State, on the joint application of the Secretary of State and the landlord, assess prior to the renunciation or, as the case may be, the termination the amounts which will on renunciation or termination become due under this section by the landlord by way of compensation for permanent improvements and by the crofter or executor by way of compensation for deterioration or damage; and the amounts so assessed shall, on renunciation or, as the case may be, termination, become due accordingly.

(10) Nothing in this Act shall affect the provisions of the M4 Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1949 with respect to the payment to outgoing tenants of compensation for improvements:

Provided that—

(a) where any improvements are valued under that Act with a view to the payment of compensation to a crofter or to the executor of a deceased crofter, the valuation shall, unless the landlord and the crofter or executor otherwise agree in writing, be made by the Land Court; and

(b) compensation shall not be payable under that Act for an improvement for which compensation is payable under this Act.

(11) Notwithstanding anything in this section—

(a) a crofter who immediately before the commencement of this Act was a statutory small tenant, or

(b) the statutory successor of such a crofter, or

(c) the executor of such a crofter or of such a statutory successor,

shall not be entitled, in respect of any permanent improvement made or begun before the commencement of this Act, to any compensation to which he would not have been entitled if his tenancy had expired immediately before the commencement of this Act.

Marginal Citations

M1 1964 c. 41

M2 1964 c. 41

M3 1964 c. 41

M4 1949 c. 75