Innovative Glengarry Model Aims to Secure the Future of Crofting in Scotland

​A new approach to croft tenancy is set to help landowners create sustainable crofting opportunities while preserving land for the benefit of communities. The Glengarry Model is a package of professionally prepared documents designed to assist landlords in creating new croft tenancies that balance community interests with long-term land stewardship.

Traditional croft tenancies in Scotland come with rights such as assignation, purchase, and succession, which have led to increasing land values, making crofts financially inaccessible to many aspiring crofters. Varying the statutory conditions of croft tenancies provides a viable alternative that grants landlords (whether community body, private individual or private company) greater control, stabilises land values, and ensures access to land for all remains feasible.

While it has been legally possible since 2007 to create varied croft tenancies, uptake has remained low and has been primarily only utilised by community landlords. The Glengarry Model seeks to change this by offering clear, practical and legally robust documentation that simplifies the process for all types of landlords, including community groups, public entities, and private individuals. Though it was written primarily with community landlords in mind - who are already leading on this - it is for use by any landlord.

The respective Glengarry partners share the hope that their model will lead to improved knowledge about varied croft tenancies, and increased use of them by all types of landlords. The project is the result of collaboration between key organisations committed to sustainable crofting:

• Glengarry Community Development Trust (formally Glengarry Community Woodlands) – A community-led initiative promoting sustainable land management. GCDT Development Manager, Tom Cooper:

          ‘’We are delighted to have now reached another milestone in the development of our project              at Ardochy. The completion of work on the Glengarry Model will provide safeguards that                    protect the community interest, which is important for the project to continue delivering for                the community in generations to come.’’
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• 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. WCP Coordinator, Jamie McIntyre: 

          “We hope the Glengarry Model will facilitate a step-change in the numbers of new woodland              crofts being created, as demand for them far outstrips supply. While of particular relevance              to community landowners, we hope NGOs and both private and public landowners will also              be encouraged to create new crofts using tenancies which protect the wider interest”

• Communities Housing Trust – A leading organisation in community-led rural housing solutions. Acting Chief Executive Officer, Morven Taylor:

​         “We are very pleased to have reached this milestone in collaboration with our partners. We                 hope this will be the first of many similar initiatives which support repopulation, alongside                 environmental, and social and economic growth in communities where forestry land can be               released for wider benefit.”

• Camus Consulting – A specialist crofting law consultancy operated by former solicitor Eilidh Ross.

         “It has been an absolute joy to work on this project, with all partners bringing their own                       strengths to a project in which all are invested. I hope that community landlords embrace the          Glengarry  Model as an opportunity to upgrade the way they use these tenancies, and perhaps          private landlords might be encouraged to approach their own estate management in new                  ways.”

Example of how this model will be implemented in Glengarry - The Lower Ardochy project will feature four affordable homes and six woodland crofts, each with a croft house, seamlessly integrated with forest management. This initiative is pioneering several new innovative approaches, including a unique tenancy model.