Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015

57 Expenses of valuation of land

After section 60 of the 2003 Act, insert—

“60A Liability of owner of land for valuation expenses

(1) Subsection (2) applies where—

(a) Ministers have received a confirmation sought by them under section 49(2)(a) that a community body will exercise its right to buy land in which it has a registered interest, and

(b) after Ministers have appointed a valuer under section 59(1) to assess the value of the land, the owner of the land gives notice under section 54(5) of the owner’s decision not to proceed further with the proposed transfer.

(2) Ministers may require the owner of the land to pay any expense incurred by them in connection with the valuation of the land under section 59 by sending the owner a demand for payment of the expense.

(3) Where Ministers are considering sending a demand under subsection (2), they may request the owner of the land to provide such information as they consider necessary for the purposes of enabling Ministers to determine whether or not to send the demand.

(4) The owner of the land may, within 21 days of the receipt of a demand under subsection (2), appeal to the sheriff against the demand.

(5) The decision of the sheriff in an appeal under subsection (4) is final.

(6) The owner of the land must pay the amount specified in a demand under subsection (2)—

(a) within 28 days of receipt, or

(b) where an appeal against the demand is made under subsection (4) and not upheld, within 28 days of the determination of the appeal.”.