REASONS for crofts lying unused – and what measures could bring them back into use – have been the focus of a Crofting Commission survey on croft availability.

The anonymous survey was posted on the Commission’s website and social media, and closed earlier in May 2021, with over 400 crofters having taken part.

CC head of crofting development, Heather Mack, said: “Our findings were that 87% of respondents identified unused crofts as an issue in their area. The respondents cited four main contributing factors for under-use – crofters living away from their croft; crofters retaining the croft as a valuable financial asset; crofters being seen as hesitant to assign/sublet their croft to someone outwith the family; and resident crofters having no desire to work their crofts.”

Concerns were raised by 90% of the respondents that a lack of availability of crofts to new entrants was an issue in their area.

When asked to identify the perceived factors needed to encourage crofters to make crofts available to new entrants, respondents, again, identified four key areas of focus.

Ms Mack added: “These were the need for an increase in promotion of the benefits of making crofts available to new entrants; increasing the understanding amongst crofters of regulatory options such as assignation, subletting and division that could be used to create an opportunity for others; the need for community pressure to see crofts well used; and action by the Crofting Commission in respect of non-resident crofters or crofters that do not cultivate their croft.”

That feedback points to the need for a combined approach by the communities themselves, the Crofting Commission and key stakeholders and crofter representative bodies, said Ms Mack.

“The survey cites enforcement work is top of the list and essential, but that educational/promotional work, combined with direct community pressure is very important too,” she added.

The CC has nearly completed its recruitment for posts based in the Western Isles, which includes posts in both the development and residency and land-use teams which will increase capacity to work with crofting communities and encourage the release of crofts where crofting duties are not being met.

“The demand from new entrants and existing crofters to access crofts is keenly felt by both crofting communities and the Commission; we all need to work together to encourage turnover of crofts to create opportunities and increase active crofting,” she concluded.

Scottish Crofting Federation chair Donald MacKinnon responded: “This is a necessary survey undertaken to establish a base-line and well done the Commission development team for doing it. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that the situation is an emergency – if we want crofting to continue we have to get unused crofts made available for incoming folk to work."

Mr MacKinnon said that most people would not find the stated reasons for unused crofts surprising – but given that crofting is a regulated system of land tenure, it iwas surprising that it had been allowed to continue.

"But the regulator can only do what resources allow," he said. “If we are to see the impending catastrophe averted, the regulator has to be given the means to tackle it. Crofters have been saying this for many years – remember the ‘Committee of Inquiry on Crofting’ in 2008? This was the biggest inquiry into crofting for 50 years and it said exactly what this survey is confirming. For a regulated system to work it has to be regulated by a sufficiently resourced regulator."

Of the 410 responses received, just over 65% were from Lewis and Harris (31%), Skye (20%) and Uist and Barra (15%), with a further 9% from West Highland, 6% from South Highland and 5% from Sutherland. The remaining respondents were from Argyll and Bute, Caithness, Central Highland, Lochaber, Morar and Ardnamurchan, Moray, Orkney and Shetland.