The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Crofting => Topic started by: pinkwing on August 28, 2018, 11:46:38 pm
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Hi all, gosh I hope this makes sense. Here goes...
Myself and my husband (we live in England) have been considering buying land in Scotland. We want a more 'off grid' life and have been looking at land for sale. All of a sudden we find ourselves coming across 'crofting' having never heard the term before. We feel we understand some of the information but would really appreciate some advice. If we were to buy a piece of land, (become owners and not tenants) say around 3 acres and a small part of this land was decrofted, are we likely to be granted planning permission to build a small dwelling on the decrofted piece of land to live in? (No idea how planning permission works in Scotland especially with regards to croft land) We would be looking at working the crofted land. Thanks in advance and any advice welcome as we are completely out of our depth with regards to knowledge with croft land.
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In Scotland there are two types of small farm.
Crofts are legal entities and are mostly in the Highlands and Islands.
Smallholdings can be anywhere in the country and do not have legal status or attachments.
If you are looking at a specific piece of land that has been referred to as 'decrofted' then you need to find out about the legal issues regarding croft land.
All planning applications are made to the relevant County Council, and usually by an architect who has drawn up either specific house plans, or an application may be made for 'planning in principle' which just gives general consent, and specific consent will have to be applied for at a later date. To my knowledge that applies whether it is a croft, a smallholding, a farm, or a piece of land
Hope that helps?
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Try here https://www.crofting.org/faqs/67 (https://www.crofting.org/faqs/67) and here http://www.crofting.scotland.gov.uk/faq (http://www.crofting.scotland.gov.uk/faq)
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Whether land is under crofting tenure or not doesn't make any difference to applying for planning permission for a dwelling. It will depend on the councils strategic plan, the site, local factors etc etc.