THE GLENGARRY MODEL
This will not get you to Glengarry but the documents below will get you to the Glengarry Model…
For the last 9 months or so, I have been working with The Glengarry Community Development Trust, the Woodland Crofts Partnership and the Communities Housing Trust to produce a package of documents which we have called the Glengarry Model.
The idea is that these documents will encourage landlords to create new croft tenancies for new crofters, while retaining the croft itself as an asset of the landlord.
It is now widely recognised that some elements of a full ‘standard’ croft tenancy (the right to assign, the right to buy and the right to succession, for example) have become problematic, leading to inflated land values which in turn render crofts financially unavailable to many.
It has been possible since 2007 to vary a croft tenancy in this way but uptake has not been high, and in the main used by community landlords (with a few exceptions). The Glengarry Model is an attempt to increase the use of ‘different’ croft tenancies by providing documents which have been professionally prepared and reflect the most up to date knowledge and best practice.
The Glengarry Model documents are free to use and are offered on a no-liability basis to anybody who wishes to use them, including community, public and private landlords. The documents will need to be tailored to the individual circumstances of each user; while we hope that having a model document will save on legal time and therefore legal costs, we do strongly recommend that users obtain their own legal advice.
Glengarry Partners
Glengarry Community Development Trust
A community-led initiative promoting sustainable land management.
Contact - Tom Cooper, GCDT Development Manager - tom@glengarry.org.uk
Woodland Crofts Partnership
A partnership of 4 third-sector organisations, seeking to promote and develop woodland crofts. It comprises the Scottish Crofting Federation, the Community Woodlands Association, the Communities Housing Trust and Woodland Trust Scotland.
Contact – Jamie McIntyre, WCP Coordinator – jamie@mcintyre.force9.co.uk
Communities Housing Trust – A leading organisation in community-led rural housing solutions.
Contact – Morven Taylor, Acting Chief Executive – morven.taylor@chtrust.co.uk
And me!
We think that the principal advantage of these documents is the ability to let new croft tenancies, resulting in new crofters, whilst retaining the croft itself as an asset for the community, avoiding the loss of croft land via assignation, purchase etc which results from a ‘standard’ croft tenancy.
Having a model available to all will lead to increased consistency across the various organisations which are using such tenancies. The model is high quality and legally robust, providing protections for both landlord and tenant.
For more information get in touch - eilidh@camus.scot
To download the documents for free, see the CHT website here.
Eilidh