MSPs close loophole to save crofting land from speculators

Published on Wednesday 2 June 2010 21:51

A LEGAL loophole which may have been used by speculators to purchase crofting land will be closed following a decision by MSPs.

Members of the Scottish Parliament's rural affairs committee have backed an amendment from Western Isles MSP Alasdair Allan to remove the "sale by nominee" anomaly, which it was claimed opened up land to speculation by housing developers.

The loophole let a crofter to nominate a non-family member to take title of crofting land. This

allowed a small number of crofters to appoint a nominee, sometimes associated with the building trade, who received the land at right-to-buy prices without any clawback.

During discussion, Mr Allan said that many areas had seen a dramatic rise in the number of second or holiday homes, with unserviced plots selling for 70,000, well out of the reach of young families.

He added: "This (amendment] will be a powerful disincentive to speculative purchasers while still allowing the crofter to provide house sites for family members. This ambiguity needs to be cleared up to protect crofting land from the effects of speculation."

Meanwhile, Peter Peacock, a Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, hit out at fellow committee members after his move to stop plans by the Crofters' Commission to charge fees to process applications from crofters failed.

He argued that the proposed fees were the thin end of the wedge and that it might lead to more and increased charges in future to make the commission more self-financed, with crofters bearing the cost.

He also argued that it was wrong to charge fees in crofting when other parts of agriculture would not bear this cost.

Mr Peacock's amendment was rejected on the casting vote of the SNP committee chairwoman, Maureen Watt.