Shooting Rights Small Business Bonus Scheme application form

It is our responsibility to keep your information safe. We will only collect the minimum amount of personal information we need to process your application and we may verify the information you provide with information we currently hold on file. We may get information from third parties or give information to them to check the accuracy of information, and we may share the information you have provided with relevant bodies to manage public funds, or prevent and detect fraud, as permitted by law.

To find out what to expect when the Council collects your personal information, please visit our website - https://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/privacy-policy

From 01/04/2026 The Non-Domestic Rates (Levying and Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2026 state properties which are used wholly or mainly for Shooting Rights with the exceptions detailed below will no longer qualify for Small Business Bonus Relief effective from 1st April 2026.

Deer forests, except:

• Those on which shooting rights are exercised solely for the purposes of environmental management or for preventing damage to woodland or agricultural production, or a combination of those purposes, and any deer shot are available for human consumption as venison.
• Those on which shooting rights are not exercised in practice.

Shootings, except:

• Properties which are crofts, agricultural holdings or small landholdings, or shootings which are leased on a commercial basis to a person who, in accordance with the Rural Development (Scotland) Regulations 2015, is in receipt of support under the Scottish Rural Development Programme, on account of being a new entrant to farming.
• Those which are leased in accordance with the model lease for environmental purposes made available by the Scottish Ministers in terms of section 11 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2025.
• Those on which shooting rights are exercised solely for the purposes of environmental management or for preventing damage to woodland or agricultural production, or a combination of those purposes, any deer shot are made available for human consumption as venison.
• Those on which shooting rights are not exercised in practice.