Na h-Eileanan an Iar SNP MSP Alasdair Allan has welcomed the announcement from the Scottish Government that 29 families across the crofting counties have been awarded money from this year's Croft House Grant Scheme.

The Scheme enables crofters to build or improve homes. Since 2007, over £16 million of grant payments have been awarded to over 800 crofters to help build or improve their homes. Crofters in the Western Isles are eligible for the upper grant of £38,000.

Alasdair Allan MSP commented:
 
“It is very welcome news indeed that 29 families are set to benefit from the Croft House Grant Scheme. This follows the Scottish Government committing to put a further £600,000 into the scheme this year.

“Earlier this month myself and my colleague Angus MacNeil MP met with Fergus Ewing MSP to discuss the scheme. We discussed concerns about the current restrictions, the amount of money available and conveyed many of the complaints we had received from individual crofters. I was greatly encouraged by the Cabinet Secretary’s response to this and his willingness to review the current criteria.

“The Croft House Grant scheme is an important method of retaining families in the isles and keeping people in crofting and yesterday's announcement will make a real difference to the families receiving a grant.”