112 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELI^AXEOUS 



a rent fixed by the Land Court, with power of renunciation and of bequest 

 to a member of his family (i); faihng bequest his right in the holding de- 

 scends to his heir-at-law, but the holding cannot be sub-divided. Residence 

 on the holding is no longer necessary, but the existing small holder must 

 reside within two miles of his holding if he is to be qualified under the Act. 

 The pro\'isions as to compensation on renunciation or removal remain un- 

 changed. 



The change of name from crofter to landholder is a consequence of the 

 extension of this tenure to the whole of Scotland. The effect of the earher 

 Act was to give legal validity to an old customary form of tenure in the High- 

 lands, but the new Act created in the rest of Scotland a new species of tenure 

 which required a new term. 



§ 7. The STATUTORY SMAIJ. TEXANT. 



The statutory small tenant is an occupier, otherwise qualified under 

 the Act, of a holding where the landlord has provided or paid fcr the whole 

 or the greater part of the buildings, etc. By far the greater proportion of 

 the existing smallholders in the area of Scotland not included in the croft- 

 ing counties come into this class. The tenant has in this case a ptimd 

 facie right to a renewal of his tenancy on its expiration, on the same terms 

 as before. But if he and his landlord cannot agree on the amount of the 

 rent and the period of the lease, either of them ma}- applj' to the Land Court 

 to fix an equitable (2) rent and to fix the period for which the tenancy is to 

 be renewed — generally, in practice, seven years. Thus, with the right to 

 have his rent fixed by the lyand Court, and with the right to a periodical 

 renewal of his occupancy, the statutorj^ small tenant shares the essentials 

 of the landholder's tenure. As in the case of the landholder, his rights 

 extend to his statutory successors. It should be noted that this class 

 of tenant is limited to those existing at ist. April. igi2 and their statutory 

 successors. No new tenant can be placed in it. On the other hand, if 

 the landlord fails to maintain the buildings, etc., in a reasonable manner, 

 the Land Court may declare the statutory small tenant to be a landholder. 

 It is also possible to turn any such holdings, when they become vacant, 

 into landholders' holdings, as " new holdings." 



§ 8. Preservation of existing small HOLDrNG?, 



Besides these provisions for the benefit of existing small holders, the 

 Act contains provisions for securing the continued exstence of small hold- 

 ings as .such. When a landholder's holding falls, or is about to fall, vacant, 



(i) The laixdhoklcr may also, with the consent of the Land Court, assign his holding to a 

 member of his family if he is no longer able by reason of illness, old age or infirmity, to cultivate 

 it himself. 



(2) Directions as to the method of fixing the rent are given in Sec. 26 (8) of the Act. 



