The Commission was responding to the Scottish Government’s consultation on crofting reform, which proposes updates to the Crofting Act, emphasising crofting’s vital role in diversifying land ownership and supporting the government’s broader objectives for land ownership and use in Scotland.

The response from the Commission recognises that whilst the current consultation is focused on short-term improvements in crofting regulation and administration, which it is supportive of, there is potential for wider reforms to crofting to unlock further opportunities including access to small-scale land opportunities and affordable housing as well as supporting rural re-population.

The Scottish Land Commission has recently published work looking at opportunities to improve access to small-scale land opportunities, and a commissioned report by Woodland Croft, Communities Housing Trust and Camus Consulting that explored the benefits and barriers to affordable tenanted croft housing both of which are available on our website.