Scottish Government

ANNEX A

Scottish Statutory Instruments
2005 No.
CROFTERS, COTTARS AND SMALL LANDHOLDERS

The Croft House Grant (Scotland) Scheme 2005

The Scottish Ministers, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 42(4), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), 44 and 45 of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993( ²) and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, and, after consultation with the Crofters Commission, in accordance with section 42(1) of that Act, hereby make the following Scheme.

PART 1
INTRODUCTORY

Citation and Commencement

1.- (1) This Scheme may be cited as the Croft House Grant (Scotland) Scheme 2005 and shall come into force on 1st January 2005.

Interpretation

2.-(1) In this Scheme-

"Act of 1993" means the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993;
"Applicant" means a crofter, cottar or eligible occupier who has applied for, or has been awarded, a grant, under this Scheme;
"cottar" has the same meaning as in section 12(5) of the Act of 1993;
"crofter" means the tenant of a croft;
"croft" has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Act of 1993;

"eligible occupier" means the owner occupier of a croft which was acquired from the landlord within 7 years of a grant application being received by the Scottish Ministers;
"high level priority area" means those areas which have been identified from time to time as such by the Geographical Targeting Panel as established by the Scottish Ministers for this purpose and which attract the high level of grant as defined in paragraphs 4 and 5 of this Scheme;

"standard level priority area" means those areas which have been identified from time to time as such by the foresaid Geographical Targeting Panel and which attract the standard level of grant as defined in paragraphs 4 and 5 of this Scheme;

"low level priority area" means those areas which have been identified from time to time as such by the foresaid Geographical Targeting Panel and which attract the low level of grant as defined in paragraphs 4 and 5 of this Scheme;

"operation" means the erection of a dwellinghouse or any of the operations specified in Schedule 1 to this Scheme.

(2) In these Regulations any reference to the applicant includes a reference-

PART 2
GRANTS IN RESPECT OF OPERATIONS

3. Subject to the provisions of this Scheme, the Scottish Ministers may make a grant under this Part of the Scheme to an Applicant towards a) the erection of a dwellinghouse; or b) the rebuilding or improvement of an existing dwellinghouse being an operation of a kind as specified in Schedule 1 to this Scheme. The operation must be carried out, in the case of a crofter or on behalf of a crofter, on the croft, in the case of a cottar on the holding occupied by the cottar, and, in the case of an eligible occupier, on the croft or holding or part of a croft, as the case may be, occupied by that eligible occupier.

Amount of grant

4. The amount of grant approved, payable or paid at the discretion of and by the Scottish Ministers under paragraph 3(1) of this Scheme for the erection of a dwellinghouse-

5. The amount of grant approved, payable or paid at the discretion of and by the Scottish Ministers under this Part of the Scheme towards the approved cost of an operation shall be:-

Application for grant

6.-(1) Any application by an Applicant for approval shall be applied for by the Applicant in such form and providing such information as the Scottish Ministers require, and shall be approved by the Scottish Ministers prior to the commencement of any work on the operation.

(2) The Scottish Ministers may, as they think fit, either refuse to approve an application or approve it in whole or in part for the purposes of a grant under this Part of this Scheme, and any such approval may be given and any such grant may be made, subject to such conditions as the Scottish Ministers think fit.

(3) Any approval of cost for the purposes of a grant under this Part of this Scheme may be varied or withdrawn by the Scottish Ministers.

(4) The Scottish Ministers may specify in approvals for applications under this Part of the Scheme the date by which work may start on the operation, the date by which the first payment of grant shall be claimed and the date by which the final payment of grant shall be claimed by the Applicant.

(5) Where the Applicant is a crofter or cottar, the Scottish Ministers shall send a copy of the notice to the Applicant's landlord and if the landlord, within 14 days of receiving the notice objects in writing to the making of the grant, the Scottish Ministers shall, before making any decision on the application, afford to the Applicant and the landlord an opportunity of making representations thereon in writing to them, or to a person appointed by them to hear the representations and report thereon to them.

(6) After considering any such application and any representations or report thereon, as specified in paragraph 6(5) of this Scheme, the Scottish Ministers shall give to the Applicant notice in writing of their decision and if the Applicant is a crofter or a cottar, shall also give notice of their decision to the Applicant's landlord.

(7) Where the Scottish Ministers approve the application they shall, at the same time as they give to the Applicant notice of their approval, inform the Applicant that the proposed work may be carried out subject to such modifications or conditions as the Scottish Ministers may specify.

Claims for payment of grant

7. The Applicant shall make a claim for the grant in such form as the Scottish Ministers may direct and shall afford to the Scottish Ministers or their duly authorised officers all such facilities as are reasonably necessary to enable the Scottish Ministers to satisfy themselves that any conditions subject to which approval was given have been complied with.

8.- (1) Upon the payment of a grant the Scottish Ministers shall forthwith cause to be recorded in the Register of Sasines or the Land Register of Scotland a notice in the form of Schedule 2 to this Scheme or a form to the like effect specifying the conditions which, by virtue of paragraph 9 of this Scheme, apply to the dwellinghouse.

(2) Upon completion of the work to the satisfaction of the Scottish Ministers, they shall make payment of the grant to the Applicant or a nominee of the Applicant.

(3) The Scottish Ministers may, if so requested by the Applicant, make payment of the grant in instalments at such times, either during the progress of the work or after its completion, and subject to such conditions as the Scottish Ministers may specify.

(4) Where an instalment of a grant has been paid in accordance with paragraph 8(3) of this Scheme and the work in respect of which the grant was to be made is not thereafter completed to the satisfaction of the Scottish Ministers or any condition of payment of the instalment of the grant is not complied with, the amount of the instalments may be recovered from the Applicant in accordance with paragraph 10 of this Scheme as if there had been a failure to comply with a condition such as mentioned in that paragraph.

Restrictions on payment of grant

(5) Where the grant referred to in paragraph 7 is for part of an operation and the maximum amount of grant has been paid, no further grant will be payable for the same operation.

Eligibility

(6) The total cost of any operation or operations specified in Schedule 1 to this Scheme will amount to more than £10,000.

Conditions of grant

9.- (1) A dwellinghouse in respect of which a grant has been made shall, unless the Scottish Ministers otherwise agree, be-

(2) The Applicant who proposes to give up the tenancy of a croft shall inform the Scottish Ministers of that intention in writing and provide the name and address of any proposed new tenant.

(3) The Applicant who proposes to let, sell or otherwise dispose of the croft, or the croft house site shall notify the Scottish Ministers.

(4) The Applicant shall permit any person duly authorised by the Scottish Ministers to enter and inspect any such dwellinghouse at all reasonable times for the purpose of ascertaining whether any provision of this Scheme applicable to the dwellinghouse is being complied with and any person so authorised shall, if requested, produce a document showing his authority to do so.

(5) The Scottish Ministers may require the Applicant to provide at such times as the Scottish Ministers may determine a certificate stating that the conditions of this Scheme are being complied with and to provide such other relevant information as the Scottish Ministers may require.

(6) Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, this Scheme and the recorded conditions shall be observed in respect of the dwellinghouse-

PART 3
GENERAL

Recovery and repayment of grant

10.- (1) Where, after the date upon which any grant, or instalment of grant, has been paid under this Scheme, the Scottish Ministers are satisfied that the Applicant has not complied, or is not complying, with a condition imposed on the Applicant, the Scottish Ministers may give to the Applicant notice in writing requiring him to make payment of a sum calculated in accordance with paragraph 10(4) of this Scheme.

(2) In the event of any dwellinghouse, for which a grant under this Scheme has been made, being destroyed or so damaged by fire during the said period as to be rendered unfit for human habitation, the Scottish Ministers may give to the Applicant notice in writing requiring him to make payment of a sum calculated in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 10(4) of this Scheme in repayment of the grant and the Applicant shall make payment of that sum to the Scottish Ministers accordingly.

(3) The Applicant may repay the grant by making payment to the Scottish Ministers of a sum calculated in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 10(4) of this Scheme or such lesser amounts as, in the circumstances of any particular case, the Scottish Ministers, in their discretion may determine.

(4) The sum referred to in paragraphs 10(1) (2) and (3) of this Scheme shall be a sum bearing the same proportion to the grant made in respect of the dwellinghouse in question as the period between the date of the notice given under paragraph 10(1) or paragraph 10(2) of this Scheme in relation to that dwellinghouse or, when paragraph 10(3) of this Scheme applies, the date of repayment, and the expiration of the period specified in paragraph 9(6) of this Scheme, bears to the whole of that period, together with interest at the rate of ten percent per annum, or any other rate determined by the Scottish Ministers, on that sum from the date on which payment of the grant or the instalment was made until repayment.

(5) Where the tenancy of a croft upon which is situated a dwellinghouse, or where a cottar's tenancy of a dwellinghouse, in respect of which a grant has been made terminates, the owner shall be deemed to be the Applicant during any period during which the croft or, as the case may be, the dwellinghouse, remains unlet and unoccupied.

(6) There shall be deemed to have been a failure to comply with the recorded conditions of this Scheme if the Applicant sells, lets or otherwise disposes of the dwellinghouse-

(7) There shall be deemed to have been a failure to comply with the recorded conditions if the Applicant for a grant is an owner-occupier who, without the prior consent of the Scottish Ministers, assigns or disposes of the land on which that dwellinghouse is built to a person who is not a member of his family.

11.--On the repayment of a grant by the applicant as referred to in paragraph 10 of this Scheme then the recorded conditions shall cease to apply to the dwellinghouse. The Scottish Ministers shall forthwith cause to be recorded in the Register of Sasines or the Land Register a notice in the form of Schedule 3 to this Scheme or a form to the like effect stating that the conditions have ceased to apply.

Crofters Commission to be agents

12.-(1) The Scottish Ministers may hereby appoint the Crofters Commission to be their agent for the purpose of the administration of any grant for or made under this Scheme.

(2) In carrying out its function as agent of the Scottish Ministers under this Scheme, the Crofters Commission shall have the like powers, rights and duties as are conferred upon it by the Scottish Ministers.

Repeal of existing Scheme

13.-- The Crofters etc, Building Grants (Scotland) Regulations 1990 are hereby revoked, but without prejudice to anything duly done or any right, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred thereunder.

Transitional Provisions

14.-(1) Notwithstanding the repeal of the Crofters etc Building Grants (Scotland) Regulations 1990 any application for improvement operations received before 31 December 2004 for payment of grant shall be administered and paid under those Regulations.

(2) In the case of a grant being made for the erection or rebuilding of a dwellinghouse under the Crofters etc Building Grants (Scotland) Regulations 1990 and conditions remain to be observed in terms of those regulations at the date of the coming into operation of this regulation then:-

SCHEDULE 1

ELIGIBLE REBUILDING AND IMPROVEMENT OPERATIONS

The approved cost of any operation specified in the following list subject to the discretion of the Scottish Ministers may be included as eligible expenditure under this Scheme

1. full or partial rebuilding of the existing croft house
2. provision of kitchen storage
3. provision of sink with hot and cold water supplies and drainage
4. provision of solid, oil or gas fired cooker
5. provision of fixed bath or shower, wash hand basin and water closet and drainage
6. renewing of defective floors
7. provision of electrical wiring or rewiring to lights and socket outlets
8. provision of central heating
9. additional bedrooms where necessary
10. extensions and alterations to provide satisfactory kitchen and living area
11. extensions and alterations to provide bath/shower rooms
12. construction of a storm porch
13. provision of a fuel store of appropriate size
14. re-roofing which may include a new roof structure
15. renewing rhones and downpipes
16. replacing doors and windows
17. re-pointing or renewing the roughcast to the walls
18. roughcasting the walls for the first time
19. providing a damp-proof course to the walls
20. providing wall insulation
21. providing roof insulation
22. treating woodworm, dry rot or wet rot
23. re-pointing, roughcasting or rebuilding chimney heads, including lead flashings
24. providing foul and rainwater drainage systems
25. lowering surrounding grounds levels, treating the solum, rising damp and providing under floor ventilation
26. connection to the mains electricity supply
27. wiring for the first time to lights and power points in the dwellinghouse
28. the supply and installation of a new private generator
29. connection to the mains gas supply
30. installation of bulk liquefied petroleum gas tanks (sited above ground only) and associated pipe work and fittings
31. all necessary builder, joiner, plaster and other works in connection with the above items
32. improvement of roads, bridges and boat slips
33. improvement of water supplies

CROFT HOUSE GRANT (SCOTLAND) SCHEME 2005

SCHEDULE 2 Paragraph 8(1)

FORM OF NOTICE, UNDER PARAGRAPH 8(1) OF THE CROFT HOUSE GRANT (SCOTLAND) SCHEME 2005, OF A PAYMENT OF A GRANT
CROFTERS (SCOTLAND) ACT 1993

Notice of Payment of Grant

Whereas the Scottish Ministers, in accordance with the provisions of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 and the Croft House Grant (Scotland) Scheme 2005 (hereinafter referred to as "the scheme") has made a grant of in respect of a dwelling house situated on the subjects described in the Schedule hereto, to (Who, together with any transferee on the intestacy or legatee of his/her who succeeds him/her in occupation of the said subjects and any other person who becomes occupier thereof is hereinafter referred to as "the recipient of the grant");

Now therefore notice is hereby given in accordance with paragraph 8(1) of the scheme, that for the period of years commencing on the day of the following conditions shall, by virtue of regulation 8(1) of the regulations, be observed with respect to the dwelling house:

Notice is further hereby given that in the event of the breach of any of the foresaid conditions or upon the occurrence of any of the other events specified in paragraph 10 of the scheme, then by virtue of the said paragraph 10 there shall on demand by the Scottish Ministers by notice in writing to that effect become payable to them by the recipient of the grant for the time being a sum being the appropriate proportion specified in paragraph 10(4) of the Scheme of the said grant, together with interest at the rate of ten percent per annum, or any other rate determined by the Scottish Ministers or any other rate determined by the Scottish Ministers, on the said sum from the date on which payment of the said grant was made until the date of payment of the said sum.

Subscribed by being an officer of the Scottish Ministers at Edinburgh on the day of Two Thousand before this witness:

Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department

SCHEDULE

SCHEDULE 3 Paragraph 11

FORM OF NOTICE, UNDER PARAGRAPH 11 OF THE CROFT HOUSE GRANT (SCOTLAND) SCHEME 2005, OF CESSER OF CONDITIONS OF GRANT
CROFTERS (SCOTLAND) ACT 1993

Notice of Cesser of Conditions of Grant

WHEREAS the Scottish Ministers made a grant of £ Sterling under the provisions of The Croft House Grant (Scotland) Scheme 2005 towards the of the dwelling house described in the Schedule hereto;

AND WHEREAS notice of payment of the said grant dated was recorded in the Division of the General Register of Sasines or the Land Register for the County of on the day of ;

AND WHEREAS repayment of the required amount of the said grant has now been made to the Scottish Ministers;

NOW THEREFORE, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 11 of the said scheme, the Scottish Ministers hereby give notice that the conditions of grant specified in the Notice of Payment of Grant recorded in the said Division of the General Register of Sasines or the Land Register ceased to apply as from the day of Two Thousand and .

Subscribed by being an officer of the Scottish Ministers at Edinburgh on the day of Two Thousand before this witness:

Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department

SCHEDULE

EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Scheme)

This Scheme revokes and replaces the Crofters etc Building Grants (Scotland) Regulations 1990. The Scheme relates to provision by the Scottish Ministers of assistance by way of grant towards the erection, improvement or rebuilding of dwellinghouses for crofters and certain other occupiers of land in the crofting counties.

The Scheme prescribes the conditions to be observed with respect to dwellinghouses so long as any grant is outstanding and provides for recovery of the grant in the event of a breach of conditions. The maximum period for which the conditions apply in the case of erection of a house has been reduced from 20 years to 15 years. The period for which the conditions apply in the case of rebuilding or improvements to an existing croft will now be 10 years. The Scheme also prescribes the form of notices to be recorded in the Register of Sasines or Land Register.