Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003

Registration of interest and the right to buy

24The Keeper and the Register

(1)For the purposes of this Part, “the Keeper” is the person who keeps the Register of Community Interests in Land (in this Part referred to as “the Register”) under section 36 (Register of Community Interests in Land) of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 (asp 2).

(2)The Keeper is to keep the Register so that there is contained in it a part for registering tenants' interests in acquiring land in accordance with section 25.

(3)There is to be included in that part of the Register—

(a)a record of any notice or notification sent to the Keeper under any provision of this Part; and

(b)where a registration of a tenant’s interest in acquiring land is removed under section 25(15), an entry specifying the date on which that is effected.

25Registration of tenant’s interest

(1)A tenant of a 1991 Act tenancy may apply to have registered an interest in acquiring the land comprised in the lease by sending a notice (in this section referred to as a “notice of interest”) to the Keeper.

(2)For the purposes of this Part, “tenant”—

(a)where there are two or more tenants under the lease, means those tenants; and

(b)does not include a sub-tenant.

(3)The notice of interest must be in such form as the Scottish Ministers may prescribe by regulations and must specify—

(a)the particulars of the tenant and the owner of the land;

(b)where there are two or more tenants under the lease, the fact that each of them consents to the making of the application to register their interest in acquiring the land;

(c)the location and boundaries of the land (by reference, where appropriate, to the lease or any map or drawing);

(d)any interest or rights comprised in the land (including any sporting or mineral rights); and

(e)such other information as the Scottish Ministers may so prescribe.

(4)The tenant must send a copy of the notice of interest to the owner of the land and notify the Keeper that the copy has been so sent.

(5)On receipt of the notice of interest, the Keeper must—

(a)register—

(i)the tenant’s interest in acquiring the land;

(ii)the details specified in the notice of interest; and

(iii)the date of registration; and

(b)send an extract of the registration to the tenant and the owner of the land.

(6)Where the registration relates to land over which there is a standard security, the owner, on receipt of the extract, must—

(a)intimate that fact to the tenant; and

(b)send a copy of the extract to the creditor in the standard security.

(7)The Keeper may charge such reasonable fee for—

(a)registering tenants' interests in acquiring land; and

(b)providing extracts, and copy extracts, of registration,

as the Scottish Ministers may by order specify.

(8)If the owner of the land disputes any matter contained in the extract of registration, the owner may, by notice in writing to the Keeper, challenge the registration of the tenant’s interest in acquiring the land on the grounds that any matter contained in the extract is inaccurate.

(9)On receipt of notice under subsection (8), the Keeper is to make such enquiry in connection with the tenant’s interest in acquiring the land as the Keeper considers appropriate; and following such an enquiry, if the Keeper considers that the notice of interest is inaccurate, the Keeper—

(a)must, if the inaccuracy is material, rescind the registration of the tenant’s interest; and

(b)may, if the inaccuracy is not material, amend that registration.

(10)Where, under subsection (9)—

(a)the registration of the tenant’s interest in acquiring the land is rescinded, the Keeper must intimate that fact to the tenant and the owner of the land; and

(b)that registration is amended, the Keeper must send an extract of the registration to the tenant and the owner of the land.

(11)The tenant or the owner of the land may appeal to the Land Court against any decision made, following notice under subsection (8), by the Keeper in respect of the registration of the tenant’s interest in acquiring the land; and in an appeal under this subsection the Court may make such order as it considers appropriate.

(12)A registration of a tenant’s interest in acquiring land—

(a)continues to have effect only in relation to such land as remains comprised in the tenancy; and

(b)ceases to have effect—

(i)if the registration is rescinded;

(ii)if the tenancy is terminated; or

(iii)where neither of those things has occurred, at the expiry of the period of five years from the date of registration.

(13)Where—

(a)the tenancy is terminated during that period; or,

(b)there is a reduction in the land comprised in the tenancy,

the landlord must give notice in writing of that fact to the Keeper.

(14)Where a tenant’s interest in acquiring land is, or has been, registered, the tenant may at any time apply to have the interest registered again (with or without modification to the matters specified in the notice of interest).

(15)The Keeper must remove from the Register any registration of a tenant’s interest in acquiring land which no longer has effect.

26Notice of proposal to transfer land

(1)Where the owner of land in respect of which a tenant’s interest in acquiring land is registered under section 25 or a creditor in a standard security with a right to sell the land proposes to transfer the land or any part of it to another person, the owner or, as the case may be, the creditor must, subject to section 27—

(a)give notice in writing of that fact to the tenant; and

(b)send a copy of the notice to the Keeper.

(2)Notice under subsection (1) must be given in accordance with such provisions (including provisions as to the form of the notice) as the Scottish Ministers may prescribe by regulations.

27Transfers not requiring notice

(1)Notice is not required under section 26 where the transfer is or, as the case may be, would be—

(a)otherwise than for value;

(b)in implement or pursuance of an order of a court (other than an order under section 24 of the Conveyancing and Feudal Reform (Scotland) Act 1970 (c. 35) or a decree in an action for the division and sale of land);

(c)between spouses in pursuance of an arrangement between them entered into at any time after they have ceased living together;

(d)of croft land to the crofter tenanting it;

(e)between companies in the same group;

(f)to a statutory undertaker for the purpose of carrying on the undertaking;

(g)a transfer—

(i)implementing the compulsory acquisition of land under any enactment;

(ii)by agreement, of land which could have been acquired compulsorily under any enactment;

(iii)implementing any right conferred by Part 2 (which provides for the community right to buy) of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 (asp 2) to buy land;

(iv)implementing any right conferred by Part 3 (which provides for the crofting community right to buy) of that Act to buy eligible land within the meaning of that Part of that Act;

(v)implementing missives for the sale and purchase of land concluded, or an option to acquire land which existed on a date on which no notice of interest in acquiring the land was registered under section 25;

(vi)conveying a house to a person who has purchased it in pursuance of the tenant’s right to buy it under Part III of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (c. 26);

(vii)which requires, or which but for the provisions of section 14 of that Act would require, the consent of the Scottish Ministers under subsection (5) or (7) of section 12 of that Act;

(viii)under section 65 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 (asp 10); or

(ix)vesting the land in a person for the purposes of any enactment relating to sequestration, bankruptcy, winding up or incapacity or to the purposes for which judicial factors may be appointed; or

(h)a transfer of land in consequence of—

(i)the assumption or resignation or death of one or more of the partners in a partnership; or

(ii)the assumption or resignation or death of one or more of the trustees of a trust.

(2)In the case of a transfer mentioned in any of paragraphs (a), (e) and (h) of subsection (1), if the transfer—

(a)is or forms part of a scheme or arrangement or is one of a series of transfers; and

(b)the main purpose or effect, or one of the main purposes or effects, of the scheme, arrangement or, as the case may be, series is the avoidance of the requirements or consequences of this Part,

the transfer is, for the purposes of section 28, deemed to be a transfer in respect of which notice is required under section 26.

(3)For the purposes of subsection (1)(e), companies are in the same group if they are, or are included in a number of, companies which, by virtue of section 170 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 (c. 12), together form a group for the purposes of sections 171 to 181 of that Act.

(4)In subsection (1)(f), “statutory undertaker” is to be construed in accordance with section 214 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (c. 8).

(5)The Scottish Ministers may by order modify (any or all) subsections (1) to (4).

28Right to buy

(1)Where a tenant’s interest in acquiring land is for the time being registered under section 25 and—

(a)the owner of the land or a creditor in a standard security with a right to sell the land, gives notice to the tenant under section 26 of a proposal to transfer the land or any part of it; or

(b)the owner or the creditor takes any action with a view to the transfer of the land or any part of it and—

(i)the transfer is a transfer in respect of which notice to the tenant is required under section 26; and

(ii)such notice has not been given,

the tenant has the right to buy the land to which the transfer relates (including any interest or rights comprised in the land) from the owner or, as the case may be, the creditor.

(2)Where—

(a)a tenant has a right to buy land under subsection (1); and

(b)despite the existence of that right, the owner, or as the case may be, the creditor transfers the land to a person other than the tenant,

the tenant has the right to buy the land (including any interests or rights comprised in the land) from the person to whom the land is transferred or is subsequently transferred.

(3)For the purposes of subsection (1)(b), action is taken with a view to a transfer of land when—

(a)the land is, by or with the authority of the owner of the land or a creditor in a standard security with a right to sell the land, advertised or otherwise exposed for sale;

(b)the owner or the creditor, or a person acting on behalf of the owner or the creditor, enters into negotiations with another person with a view to the transfer of the land; or

(c)the owner or the creditor, or a person acting on behalf of the owner or the creditor, proceeds further with any proposed transfer of the land which was initiated prior to the date on which the notice of interest was registered.

(4)References in subsection (3) to the owner of land include references to the person in whom it has vested for the purposes of any such enactment as is mentioned in section 27(1)(g)(ix).

(5)The Scottish Ministers may by order modify (either or both) subsections (3) and (4).

29Exercise of right to buy

(1)Where a tenant has a right to buy land under section 28(1), the tenant may proceed in accordance with section 32 to buy the land from the owner or, as the case may be, the creditor provided that notice is given under subsection (2).

(2)Notice is given under this subsection if the tenant, within 28 days of receipt of the notice under section 26, gives notice to the owner or, as the case may be, the creditor that the tenant intends to buy the land.

(3)Where a tenant has a right to buy under section 28(2), the tenant may proceed in accordance with section 32 to buy the land from the person to whom the land has been transferred or subsequently transferred provided that notice is given under subsection (4).

(4)Notice is given under this subsection if—

(a)the tenant gives notice to that person that the tenant intends to buy the land; and

(b)the notice is given within three years from the transfer to that person,

and the tenancy is in force on the date on which the notice is given.

(5)If, at any time, the tenant does not intend to proceed, in accordance with section 32, to buy the land, the tenant is to give notice of that fact to the person from whom the land would otherwise have been bought.

(6)Where the tenant—

(a)does not give notice in accordance with subsection (2) or, as the case may be, (4); or

(b)gives notice under subsection (5),

the right to buy is extinguished.

(7)A tenant giving any notice under this section must send a copy of the notice to the Keeper.

30Meaning of “creditor in a standard security with a right to sell land”

Any reference in this Part to a creditor in a standard security with a right to sell land is a reference to a creditor who has such a right under—

(a)section 20(2) or 23(2) of the Conveyancing and Feudal Reform (Scotland) Act 1970 (c. 35); or

(b)a warrant granted under section 24(1) of that Act.

31Effect of extinguishing of right to buy

Where a right to buy land is extinguished under section 29(6) or 32(8), the tenant may acquire a subsequent right to buy the same land or any part of it under section 28(1), but only if—

(a)the period of 12 months from the extinguishing of the right to buy has expired; or

(b)before that period has expired—

(i)the land is transferred to another person; and

(ii)that person requires to give notice under section 26 in relation to a subsequent transfer.