Crofters (Scotland) Act 1955 (repealed 5.1.1994)

Changes over time for: Section 16

Version Superseded: 05/01/1994

Alternative versions:

01/02/1991- Amendment
01/02/1991
Point in time
Stop date 05/01/1994- Amendment

Status:

Point in time view as at 01/02/1991. This version of this provision has been superseded.

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16 Vacant crofts.U.K.

(1)Where—

(a)the landlord of a croft receives from the crofter a notice of renunciation of his tenancy or obtains from the Land Court an order for the removal of the crofter; or

[F1(aa)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 M1Succession (Scotland) Act 1964; or]

(b)for any other reason the croft has become vacant;

the landlord shall within one month [F2from—

(i)the receipt of the notice of renunciation of the tenancy, or

(ii)the date on which the Land Court made the order, or

(iii)the date on which the landlord gave or received notice terminating the tenancy, or

(iv)the date on which the vacancy came to the landlord’s knowledge,

as the case may be,] give notice thereof to the Commission.

(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F3

(3)The landlord of a croft shall not, except with the consent in writing of the Commission, or, if the Commission withhold their consent, with the consent of the Secretary of State, let the croft or any part thereof to any person; and any letting of the croft otherwise than with such consent shall be null and void.

[F4(3A)Where any person is in occupation of a croft under a letting which is null and void by virtue of the last foregoing subsection, the Commission may serve on him a notice in writing requiring him to give up his occupation of such croft on or before such day as may be specified in the notice, being a day not less than one month from the date of the service of the notice; and if he fails to give up his occupation of the croft on or before that day, subsection (3) of the next following section shall, subject to any necessary modifications, apply as it applies where a crofter fails to give up the occupation of a croft as mentioned in that, subsection.]

(4)Where a croft is vacant the Commission may—

(a).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F5

(b) . . . F6, at any time after the expiry of one month from the occurrence of the vacancy;

give notice to the landlord requiring him to submit to them his proposals for re-letting the croft, whether as a separate croft or as an enlargement of another croft, and if, within a period of two months from the giving of such notice, no such proposals are submitted or such proposals are submitted but the Commission refuse to approve them, the Commission may, if they think fit, themselves let the croft to such person or persons and on such terms and conditions (including conditions as to rent) as may be fixed by the Commission after consultation with the landlord; and such let shall have effect in all respects as if it had been granted by the landlord:

Provided that the Commission shall not themselves let the croft while [F7the Secretary of State is considering an application made to him under subsection (3) above for consent to let, or the Commission are considering an application made to them under subsection (9) below for a direction that the croft shall cease to be a croft].

(5)Where a croft has been let on terms and conditions fixed by the Commission, the landlord may within one month from the date of the letting apply to the Land Court for a variation of the terms and conditions so fixed, and any variation made in pursuance of such application shall have effect as from the date of the letting.

(6)Where the Commission have under subsection (4) of this section let a vacant croft as an enlargement of another croft, and any of the buildings on the vacant croft thereby cease to be required in connection with the occupation of the croft, the Commission shall give notice to that effect to the landlord, and thereupon—

(a)the buildings shall cease to form part of the croft; and

(b)the landlord may, at any time within six months after the giving of such notice, give notice to the Secretary of State requiring him to purchase the buildings.

[F8(7)Where a croft has, in consequence of the making of an order under section 17(1) of this Act, become vacant and has remained unlet for a period of six months beginning with the date on which the croft so became vacant, the Commission shall, if the landlord at any time within three months after the expiry of the period aforesaid, gives notice to the Commission requiring them to do so, direct that the croft shall cease to be a croft; and if the landlord within one month after the issuing of such a direction gives notice to the Secretary of State requiring him to purchase the buildings on the croft, the Secretary of State shall purchase such buildings.]

(8)Where a notice has been duly given under paragraph (b) of subsection (6) of this section or [F9by the landlord to the Secretary of State] under the last foregoing subsection, the Secretary of State shall be deemed to be authorised to purchase the buildings compulsorily and to have served notice to treat in respect thereof on the date on which the notice aforesaid was given:

Provided that the consideration payable by the Secretary of State in respect of the purchase of the buildings shall be such sum as may be agreed by the Secretary of State and the landlord, or, failing agreement, as may be determined by the Land Court to be equal to the amount which an out-going tenant who had erected or paid for the erection of the buildings would have been entitled to receive [F10from the landlord] by way of compensation for permanent improvements in respect of the buildings as at the date on which notice was given as aforesaid to the Secretary of State requiring him to purchase the buildings.

[F11(9)Where a croft is vacant, the Commission may, on the application of the landlord, direct that the croft shall cease to be a croft or refuse to grant the application; and if the Commission direct under this subsection or under subsection (7) above that a croft shall cease to be a croft, the provisions of this Act and, subject to a subsection (9A) below, the M2Crofters (Scotland) Act 1961 shall cease to apply to the croft, without prejudice, however, to the subsequent exercise of any powers conferred by any enactment for the enlargement of existing crofts.

(9A)The coming into effect of a direction given by the Commission by virtue of section 16A(4) of this Act shall not affect the powers contained in the proviso to section 13(3) of the said Act of 1961 (subleases).]

(10)Any person who, being the landlord of a croft, fails to comply with the requirements of subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F12level 1 on the standard scale].

(11)For the purposes of this section a croft shall be taken to be vacant at the commencement of this Act notwithstanding that it is occupied, if it is occupied otherwise than by a crofter and the consent of the Secretary of State to such occupation has not been obtained.

[F13(11A)For the purposes of this section [F14and section 16A of this Act] a croft shall be taken to be vacant notwithstanding that it is occupied, if it is occupied otherwise than by the tenant of the croft.]

(12)The provisions of subsections (1) and (10) of this section shall not apply to a croft which the Commission have in the exercise of any power conferred on them by this Act declared to be vacant.

[F15(13)The provisions of this section shall have effect in relation to a part of a croft as they have effect in relation to a croft.]

[F16(14)For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that this section has effect (and shall be deemed always to have had effect since 27th August 1961) as if—

(a)a person who has become the owner-occupier of a croft were required under subsection (1) above within one month of the date on which he became such owner-occupier to give notice thereof to the Commission; and

(b)any reference in the section other than in subsection (1) above to a landlord included a reference to an owner-occupier.]

Textual Amendments

F1S. 16(1)(aa) inserted by Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1968 (c. 70), Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 17

F2Words substituted by Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1968 (c. 70), Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 17

F3Ss. 16(2), 22(8) repealed by Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976 (c. 21), Sch. 3

F4S. 16(3A) inserted by Crofters (Scotland) Act 1961 (c. 58), Sch. 1 Pt. II para. 12(a)

F5S. 16(4)(a) repealed by Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976 (c. 21), Sch. 3

F6Words repealed by Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976 (c. 21), Sch. 3

F7Words substituted by Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976 (c. 21), Sch. 2 para. 8(a)

F8S. 16(7) substituted by Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976 (c. 21), s. 13(1)

F9Words inserted by Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976 (c. 21), Sch. 2 para. 8(b)

F10Words inserted by Crofters (Scotland) Act 1961 (c. 58), Sch. 1 Pt. I para. 5