The Crofters etc. Building Grants (Scotland) Regulations 1990

Statutory Instruments

1990 No. 944 (S.120)

CROFTERS, COTTARS AND SMALL LANDHOLDERS

The Crofters etc. Building Grants (Scotland) Regulations 1990

Made

23rd April 1990

Laid before Parliament

25th April 1990

Coming into force

16th May 1990

The Secretary of State in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 22(4) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1955(1) and section 14(2) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1961(2), and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Crofters etc. Building Grants (Scotland) Regulations 1990 and shall come into force on 16th May 1990.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations unless the context otherwise requires the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them:–

“the Act of 1955” means the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1955;

“the Act of 1976” means the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976(3);

“cottar” has the same meaning as in section 28(4) of the Act of 1955;

“croft” has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Act of 1955;

“croft land” has the same meaning as in section 1(3) of the Act of 1976;

“crofter” means the tenant of a croft and includes a person deemed by virtue of section 22(6) of the Act of 1955 to be a crofter for the purposes of section 22(2) of that Act;

“grant” means such assistance by way of grant as is mentioned in section 22(2) of the Act of 1955;

“landlord” in relation to a crofter (other than a person deemed by virtue of section 22(6) of the Act of 1955 to be a crofter) has the same meaning as in section 37(1) of that Act and in relation to a cottar means the landlord of the site upon which is or is proposed to be erected, improved or rebuilt a dwellinghouse to which an application for grant or, as the case may be, a grant relates;

“owner-occupier” means–

(a)

the owner of a holding to which section 31 of the Act of 1955 applies who has applied for a grant or, as the case may be, to whom the Secretary of State has decided to make or has made a grant under subsection (1) of that section; or

(b)

a person who, after the passing of the Act of 1976 has applied for a grant or, as the case may be, to whom the Secretary of State has decided to make or has made a grant under section 22(2) of the Act of 1955 as read with section 12(1) of the Act of 1976 and who is —

(i)

a crofter who has acquired the site of the dwelling house on or pertaining to his croft; or

(ii)

the nominee of such a crofter, being a member of his family, to whom the site has been conveyed by the landlord of the croft; or

(iii)

a member of such a crofter’s family who has acquired the title to the site from that crofter or such nominee; or

(iv)

a cottar who has acquired the site of the dwellinghouse on or pertaining to his subject;

“statutory successor” has the same meaning as in section 37(1) of the Act of 1955;

“the recorded conditions” in relation to a dwellinghouse means the conditions set out in the notice recorded in relation to that dwellinghouse in the Register of Sasines in accordance with regulation 4 of these Regulations;

“the work” means erection, improvement or rebuilding towards which the Secretary of State has decided to make or has made a grant.

(2) In these Regulations any reference to the recipient of a grant includes a reference–

(a) in the case of a crofter, to any other crofter who becomes tenant of the croft whether as a statutory successor or otherwise and to any person who becomes owner-occupier of the croft;

(b) in the case of a cottar, to any person who succeeds him as tenant of the dwellinghouse in respect of which the grant in question is made; and

(c) in the case of an owner-occupier or a person deemed by section 22(6) of the Act of 1955 to be a crofter, to the heirs and successors whomsoever of the owner-occupier or of that person as the case may be.

Application for and payment of grant

3.—(1) An application for a grant shall be made to the Secretary of State in such form as he may require.

(2) The applicant shall furnish to the Secretary of State such information as the Secretary of State may require regarding the proposals for the erection, improvement or rebuilding of the dwellinghouse to which the application relates.

(3) Where the applicant is a crofter or a cottar, the Secretary of State shall give notice in writing of receipt of the application to the applicant’s landlord and if the landlord within 14 days after receiving the notice objects in writing to the making of the grant the Secretary of State shall, before making any decision on the application, afford to the applicant and the landlord an opportunity of making representations thereon in writing to him or to a person appointed by him to hear the representations and to report thereon to him.

(4) After considering any such application and any representations or report thereon, the Secretary of State shall give to the applicant notice in writing of his decision and if the applicant is a crofter or a cottar, shall also give notice of his decision to the applicant’s landlord.

(5) Where the Secretary of State approves the application he shall, at the same time as he gives to the applicant notice of his approval, inform the applicant that the proposed work may be carried out subject to such modifications or conditions as the Secretary of State may specify.

(6) Upon completion of the work to the satisfaction of the Secretary of State, he shall make payment of the grant to the applicant.

(7) The Secretary of State 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 Secretary of State may specify.

(8) Where an instalment of a grant has been paid in accordance with paragraph (7) of this regulation and the work in respect of which the grant was to be made is not thereafter completed to the satisfaction of the Secretary of State or any condition of payment of the instalment of the grant is not complied with, the amount of the instalments may be recovered in accordance with regulation 8(1) of these Regulations from the person to whom the instal ment was paid as if he were the recipient of a grant and as if there had been a failure to comply with a condition such as mentioned in that paragraph.

4.—(1) Upon the payment of a grant the Secretary of State shall forthwith cause to be recorded in the Register of Sasines a notice in the form of Schedule 1 to these Regulations or a form to the like effect specifying the conditions which, by virtue of regulation 5 of these Regulations, apply in relation to the dwellinghouse.

(2) Where the recipient of a grant is a crofter or cottar, the Secretary of State shall send a copy of the notice to the recipient’s landlord.

Conditions of grant

5.—(1) A dwellinghouse in respect of which a grant has been made shall, unless the Secretary of State otherwise agrees, be occupied–

(a) where the recipient of a grant is a person deemed by virtue of section 22(6) of the Act of 1955 to be a crofter, or is a person who has, after the application for grant by a person so deemed but before the making of the grant, become the owner of the holding in respect of which the application was made, by that person or his family as part of the holding which he owns and occupies;

(b) in any other case, by the recipient of the grant or his family.

(2) Any dwellinghouse in respect of which a grant has been made shall at all times be maintained by the recipient of the grant to the satisfaction of the Secretary of State.

(3) Any such dwellinghouse shall be kept insured against destruction or damage by fire for such sum and with such insurance company as the Secretary of State may from time to time approve, and the receipts for the premiums in respect of the renewal of insurance shall be exhibited to the Secretary of State on demand.

(4) The recipient of a grant shall permit any person duly authorised by the Secretary of State to enter and inspect any such dwellinghouse at all reasonable times for the purpose of ascertaining whether any provision of these Regulations 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.

6.  —Subject to the provisions of regulation 8 of these Regulations, these Regulations and the recorded conditions shall be observed in respect of the dwellinghouse–

(a) where a grant has been made for erection or rebuilding, for a period of 20 years;

(b) where a grant has been made for improvement, for a period of 5 years;

beginning with the day on which, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, the work is completed.

7.—(1) The Secretary of State may require the recipient of a grant to provide at such times as the Secretary of State may determine a certificate that the recorded conditions are being complied with and to provide such other relevant information as the Secretary of State may require.

(2) The recipient of a grant who is a crofter and who proposes to give up his tenancy of his croft shall notify the Secretary of State in writing accordingly and shall therewith intimate to the Secretary of State the name and address of any proposed assignee.

(3) The recipient of a grant who is an owner-occupier or a person to whom section 22(6) of the Act of 1955 applies and who proposes to let, feu, sell or otherwise dispose of the croft or holding, the part of the croft or holding on which the dwellinghouse is situated, or the remainder of the croft or holding shall notify the Secretary of State in writing accordingly and shall therewith intimate to the Secretary of State the name and address of the proposed tenant, feuar, purchaser or other disponee.

(4) A person who becomes tenant, whether as a statutory successor or otherwise, of a croft on which is situated a dwellinghouse in respect of which a grant has been made, or a cottar who becomes occupier of such a dwellinghouse, or an owner-occupier, or a person to whom section 22(6) of the Act of 1955 applies, in whom there vests any such dwellinghouse shall, upon becoming recipient of the grant by succession or otherwise, give notice forthwith to the Secretary of State to that effect.

(5) The recipient of a grant who proposes to do any other thing which would result in the recorded conditions ceasing to be observed shall notify the Secretary of State in writing accordingly.

Recovery and repayment of grant

8.—(1) Subject to the provisions of section 26(11) of the Agriculture Act 1967(4), if at any time during the period during which the recorded conditions apply to any dwellinghouse the Secretary of State has reason to believe that there has been a failure to comply with any of those conditions or has reason to believe that there will within six months from the date of the notice aftermentioned be such a failure, the Secretary of State may give to the recipient of the grant notice in writing requiring him to make payment of a sum calculated in accordance with paragraph (4) of this regulation in repayment of the grant and the recipient of the grant shall, unless he satisfies the Secretary of State that there has not been or will not be such a failure as aforesaid, make payment of that sum to the Secretary of State accordingly.

(2) In the event of any such dwellinghouse being destroyed or so damaged by fire during the said period as to be rendered unfit for human habitation the Secretary of State may give to the recipient of the grant notice in writing requiring him to make payment of a sum calculated in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (4) of this regulation in repayment of the grant and the recipient of the grant shall make payment of that sum to the Secretary of State accordingly.

(3) The recipient of a grant may repay the grant by making payment to the Secretary of State of a sum calculated in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (4) of this regulation or such lesser amount as, in the circumstances of any particular case, the Secretary of State in his discretion may determine.

(4) The sum referred to in paragraphs (1) (2) and (3) of this regulation 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 (1) or paragraph (2) of this regulation in relation to that dwellinghouse or, when paragraph (3) of this regulation applies, the date of repayment, and the expiration of the period specified in regulation 6 of these Regulations, bears to the whole of that period, together with interest at the rate of 12½ per centum per annum 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 recipient of the grant 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 if the recipient of the grant sells, lets or otherwise disposes of the dwellinghouse–

(a) where the recipient of the grant is a crofter, otherwise than–

(i) to a member of his family or;

(ii) to another crofter who in the opinion of the Secretary of State requires and will occupy the dwellinghouse for the purpose of cultivating a croft;

(b) in any other case, to a person other than a crofter who in the opinion of the Secretary of State requires and will occupy the dwellinghouse for the purpose of cultivating a croft.

(7) There shall be deemed to have been a failure to comply with the recorded conditions if the recipient of a grant for a dwellinghouse who is an owner-occupier without the prior consent of the Secretary of State, assigns or disposes of the croft land to which that dwellinghouse pertains to a person who is not a member of the family.

(8) It shall be no objection to a notice given under this regulation in respect of a failure existing at the date at which the notice is given that the notice was not given immediately, or at any particular interval, after the existence of the failure first came to the Secretary of State’s knowledge, or that the failure first occurred before the re cipient of the grant to whom the notice is given became tenant of the croft, or, as the case may be, of the dwellinghouse, or the owner-occupier of the holding on which the dwellinghouse in question is situated, or that the Secretary of State could have required repayment of the grant at a date earlier than that at which the notice was given.

9.  On the making by the recipient of a grant of any such payment as is referred to in regulation 8 of these Regulations, these Regulations and the recorded conditions shall cease to apply to the dwellinghouse and the Secretary of State shall cause to be recorded in the Register of Sasines a notice in the form set out in Schedule 2 to these Regulations or a form to the like effect stating that the conditions have ceased so to apply.

Grant in relation to compensation

10.—(1) If, at any time within the period during which the recorded conditions have effect in relation to a dwellinghouse, compensation under the Act of 1955 becomes payable in respect of the dwellinghouse, so much of the value of the dwellinghouse as is attributable to the grant, or to so much of the grant as is outstanding at the date on which compensation becomes payable, shall be deducted therefrom.

(2) The landlord of any such dwellinghouse shall not, at any time during the said period, be entitled to obtain any consideration by way of rent or otherwise in respect of so much of the value of the dwellinghouse as is attributable to the work towards which the grant was made.

Revocation

11.  The Crofters etc. Building Grants (Scotland) Regulations 1982(5) are hereby revoked, but without prejudice to anything duly done or any right, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred thereunder.

Transitional provisions

12.  Notwithstanding the revocation of the Crofters etc. Building Grants (Scotland) Regulations 1982 any application approved before 16th May 1990 for payment of grant shall be administered and paid under those Regulations.

Sanderson of Bowden

Minister of State, Scottish Office

St. Andrew’s House,

Edinburgh

23rd April 1990

Regulation 4

SCHEDULE 1 FORM OF NOTICE UNDER REGULATION 4 OF THE CROFTERS ETC. BUILDING GRANTS (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 1990 OF PAYMENT OF A GRANT

CROFTERS (SCOTLAND) ACT 1955CROFTING REFORM (SCOTLAND) ACT 1976

Notice of Payment of Grant

Regulation 9

SCHEDULE 2 FORM OF NOTICE UNDER REGULATION 9 OF THE CROFTERS ETC. BUILDING GRANTS (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 1990 OF CESSER OF CONDITIONS OF GRANT

CROFTERS (SCOTLAND) ACT 1955CROFTING REFORM (SCOTLAND) ACT 1976

Notice of Cesser of Conditions of Grant

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations revoke and replace the Crofters etc. Building Grants (Scotland) Regulations 1982. They relate to provision by the Secretary of State of assistance by way of grant towa rds the erection, improvement or rebuilding of dwellinghouses for crofters and certain other occupiers of land in the crofting counties.

The Regulations prescribe the conditions to be observed with respect to dwellinghouses so long as any such grant is outstanding and provide 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 or rebuilding of a house is increased from 10 years to 20 years and the circumstances in which there is a breach of conditions have been widened with the aim of making it more likely that assisted housing will be kept within the crofting community. The Regulations also prescribe the form of notices to be recorded in the Register of Sasines.

(1)

1955 c. 21; section 22(4) was amended by the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976 (c. 21), Schedule 3 and by the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1985 (c. 73), section 31.

(2)

1961 c. 58.

(3)

1976 c. 21.

(4)

1967 c. 22.

(5)

S.I. 1982/1419.