ESTATE BUSINESS
Obair na h-oighreachd
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Estate business deals with crofting related matters such as croft rents and granting title, as well as commercial activities such as sand extraction and leases.
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A small sub-group is responsible for managing the estate business and works alongside the Executive Manager and Crofting Administration Officer. This business has been extremely busy since the buyout in January 2007. There have been many new houses built on the estate, major developments by Scottish Water (Eoropie and Habost) and commercial developments at Galson and Borve taking place.
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The sub-group is responsible for granting titles for new houses, approval of dispositions, granting rights of servitude, granting wayleaves to the Utility Companies and negotiating with Scottish Water for the sale of land for new developments. Furthermore, the sub-group is responsible for the negotiation of rentals for the communications masts and the royalties for the sand and rock quarrying at Habost and Knockaird respectively.
With so many new houses being built on the estate and those requiring a mortgage needing Title to the house site, this has resulted in a steep rise in the number of Titles being granted.
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Please contact the office for any enquiries regarding estate business. Additional regulatory crofting application forms can be found by clicking on the links below. ​
Faq's
How do I go about decrofting my croft house or decrofting a plot on my croft?
You need to complete an application which can be obtained through the Crofting Commission’s website. If it is the first house site that you have decrofted on that croft and the house is wind and watertight, please complete the “Decrofting (house and garden)” application. If you are decrofting a plot to build a house or are decrofting a 2nd house site on the croft, please use the “Decrofting - Part-croft Tenant” application form.
All Crofting Commission application forms can be found on the Crofting Commission’s website at: https://www.crofting.scotland.gov.uk/applications-and-notifications/
Click on the above link and then click on “Types of Applications & Notifications” to locate the relevant application form and guidance.
Where can I find information regarding my croft eg size of croft, souming rights, main location code, apportionments granted?
This information is available on the Register of Crofts at:
https://www.crofting.scotland.gov.uk/ Click on the link and then click on “Register of Crofts”.
How can I get a peatbank?
Please contact the Grazings Clerk for your township. If you don’t know who the Clerk is UOG has contact details for all the grazings clerks on the estate. Cross Skigersta Road has no Grazings Clerk therefore we’d suggest speaking to your neighbours for local information about peat bank availability.
What local organisations offer crofting advice?
SAC (Scottish Agricultural College), 52 Bayhead Street, Stornoway offers crofting advice and help with form filling. Tel 01851 703103
SGRIPD (Rural Payments and Services), 10 Keith Street, Stornoway deals with IACS forms etc. Tel 0300 244 8501