Assynt

Creation of the estate

In 1989, the northwest portion of the Assynt estate was renamed the North Lochinver Estate and put on the market by its owners, the Vestey family. This area consisted almost entirely of crofting land, with 13 crofting townships being set up during the Highland Clearances. The purpose of the sale was to raise money for the owners to buy more hill ground suitable for deer stalking. The estate was purchased by Scandinavian Property Services Limited. Three years later, the company went into liquidation. The North Lochinver Estate was divided into seven lots and put up for sale. The sale was handled by an Edinburgh based estate agent, John Clegg and Co. The proposed break-up of the estate was a cause of concern for the crofters as the boundaries of the lots cut across grazing land, creating the possibility of some crofters having to deal with more than one landlord. The crofters also believed that some of the portions would be directly administered by the owners, rather than a professional factor.

Buyout by crofters

The Assynt branch of the Scottish Crofters Union met on the 6 June 1992, to discuss the sale. There the crofters decided to attempt to raise enough money to buy the estate and run it themselves.

Assynt Crofters' Trust, a company limited by guarantee, was formed to make a bid for the land. Membership of the trust was open to crofters within the estate. The trust aimed to buy the estate and keep it under the control of the crofters, and to develop the area by initiating projects such as house building, job creation and tree planting. Funding for the trust came from many sources. Each crofting family was asked to raise £1,000. Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise, part of Highlands and Islands Enterprise donated £50,000, while Scottish Natural Heritage gave a grant of £20,000. Highland Regional Council donated £10,000. Much of the money, however, came from a public appeal for funds. This appeal raised over £130,000 from 824 individuals. Money came from throughout the United Kingdom, as well as abroad. Political figures such as the local Member of Parliament, Robert Maclennan, Ray Michie, Alex Salmond, Winifred Ewing and Charles Kennedy donated, as did the rock band Runrig. A secured loan of £90,000 was received from Highland Prospect Limited, a company set up by Highland Regional Council to promote investment in the Highlands by providing grants and low-interest loans.

The trust made two unsuccessful bids, of £235,000 and £245,000 respectively. This caused the trust to adopt a more aggressive stance. They threatened to use right-to-buy provisions of crofting law to buy the crofts. This option, requiring legal action, would be expensive and time-consuming; and would deny the crofters complete control of the estate. The option was therefore kept in reserve in order to make the estate less attractive to other potential bidders—compulsory purchase of the crofts would force the new landowners to sell much of their newly acquired land for a fraction of its value. To assist this strategy, the crofters enclosed and divided an area of common grazing land, an action which would give them the option of buying the common land as well as the crofts themselves. Pressure was also exerted on the main creditor of Scandinavian Property Services, the Swedish Östgöta Enskilda Bank, as the trust wrote telling them of their proposed strategy.

On 4 December 1992, the trust submitted a final bid of £300,000. This was accepted after four days. On Monday, 1 February 1993, Assynt Crofters' Trust became the owners of the North Lochinver Estate, which they renamed the North Assynt Estate.

Settlements

Communities in Assynt include: