When an application is made to the Crofters Commission to fix a fair rent, intimation thereof shall be given to the other party interested in the holding, landlord or crofter, as the case may be, and the Crofters Commission shall appoint a time and place at which parties shall be heard in reference to the matter of the application.

It shall be competent for the Commissioners in case of such application to visit the holding, if they think fit, as also to call in the aid of an assessor or assessors, specially qualified by local knowledge or otherwise, and to hear the case wholly or partially with the aid of such assessor or assessors, or they may obtain a valuation or report from a competent valuer or valuers appointed by them for the purpose.