Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886

1 A crofter shall not be removed except for breach of statutory conditions. U.K.

A crofter shall not be removed from the holding of which he is tenant except in consequence of the breach of one or more of the conditions following (in this Act referred to as statutory conditions), but he shall have no power to assign his tenancy.

(1) The crofter shall pay his rent at the terms at which it is due and payable:

(2) The crofter shall not execute any deed purporting to assign his tenancy:

(3) The crofter shall not, to the prejudice of the interest of the landlord, persistently injure the holding by the dilapidation of buildings or, after notice has been given by the landlord to the crofter not to commit, or to desist from, the particular injury specified in such notice, by the deterioration of the soil:

(4) The crofter shall not, without the consent to his landlord in writing, [F1 sublet his holding] or any part thereof, or erect or suffer to be erected thereon any dwelling-house otherwise than in substitution for those already upon the holding at the time of the passing of this Act:

(5) The crofter shall not persistently violate any written condition signed by him for the protection of the interest of the landlord or of neighbouring crofters which is legally applicable to the holding, and which the Crofters Commission shall find to be reasonable:

(6) The crofter shall not do any act whereby he becomes notour bankrupt within the meaning of the M1 Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act, 1856, and the M2 Debtors (Scotland) Act, 1880, and shall not execute a trust deed for behoof of creditors:

(7) The landlord, or any person or persons authorised by him in that behalf (he or they making reasonable compensation for any damage to be done or occasioned thereby), shall have the right to enter upon the holding for any of the purposes following (that is to say):

• Mining or taking minerals, or digging or searching for minerals;

• Quarrying or taking stone, marble, gravel, sand, clay, slate, or other workable mineral;

• Cutting or taking timber or peats, excepting timber and other trees planted by the crofter or his predecessors in the holding, being of the same family, or that may be necessary for ornament or shelter, and excepting also such peats as may be required for the use of the holding;

• Opening or making roads, fences, drains, and water-courses;

• Passing and re-passing to and from the shore of the sea or any loch with or without horses and carriages for exercising any right of property or other right belonging to the landlord;

• Viewing or examining at reasonable times the state of the holding and all buildings or improvements thereon;

• Hunting, shooting, fishing, or taking game or fish, wild birds, or vermin. The word “game” for the purposes of this subsection means deer, hares, rabbits, pheasants, partridges, quails, landrails, grouse, blackgame, capercailzie, ptarmigan, woodcock, snipe, wild duck, widgeon, and teal;

And the crofter shall not obstruct the landlord, or any person or persons authorised by him in that behalf as aforesaid, in the exercise of any right reserved or conferred by this subsection.

(8) The crofter shall not on his holding, without the consent of his landlord, open any house for the sale of intoxicating liquors.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 1(4) substituted (25.6.2007) by Crofting Reform etc. Act 2007 (asp 7), s. 43(3), Sch. 1 para. 1 (with ss. 40, 43(2)); S.S.I. 2007/269, art. 2, Sch.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 1 amended by Small Landholders (Scotland) Act 1911 (c. 49), s. 10(1); restricted by Crofters (Scotland) Act 1955 (3 & 4 Eliz. 2 c. 21), s. 38(3), Sch. 6 Pt. I

C2 S. 1(4)(7) amended by Small Landholders (Scotland) Act 1911 (c. 49),s. 10(2)(3)

Marginal Citations

M1 1856 c. 79.

M2 1880 c. 34.