Latest news with #LandReform(Scotland)Bill
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Land reform Bill: Labour MSP in bid to introduce 500ha cap
The MSP is to lodge amendments that would introduce a presumptive cap on land ownership. Her proposal would prevent any individual or entity from buying, selling or owning more than 500 hectares by default. READ MORE: MSPs backed the general principles of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill in March. Holyrood's Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee is set to begin Stage 2 scrutiny on Tuesday, considering hundreds of proposed amendments. The Bill has two parts. The first would place a duty on the owners of the largest landholdings to engage with the local community about the use of the land. It also proposes mechanisms to make it easier for community groups to purchase land when it is put up for sale. The second part addresses the agricultural and environmental use of leased farmland. Ms Villalba's amendment would mean any transaction exceeding the 500 hectare threshold would trigger a forward-looking public interest test, assessing whether the sale benefits local communities and Scotland more broadly. Where estates fail the test, ministers could require them to be divided and sold in smaller parcels—a measure aimed at curbing further concentration. She also plans to amend the Bill's definition of 'large-scale' landholding to account for total land owned, rather than just contiguous holdings. This is intended to prevent landowners from avoiding regulation by holding multiple, smaller, separate parcels. A further amendment would stop ministers from raising the acreage thresholds without full scrutiny by the Scottish Parliament, amid concerns future governments could dilute the reforms. Ms Villalba said more ambitious action is needed to dismantle Scotland's entrenched 'land monopoly'. Mercedes Villalba outside the Trump course in Balmedie (Image: Contributed) Despite over two decades of land reform legislation, the country is often cited as having the most unequal land ownership in the western world. Research published last year by former Green MSP and land reform advocate Andy Wightman found that half of Scotland's privately owned rural land—some 3.2 million hectares—is held by just 433 owners, including estates, corporations and trusts. Community bodies, by contrast, own only around 2.8% of rural land. Campaigners argue that this extreme concentration has remained largely unchanged since the early 20th century, resulting in 'localised monopoly' power in some areas. However, in response to the Scottish Government's consultation, Scottish Land and Estates argued there is no substantial evidence that the scale of landholdings negatively impacts the country. They said scale and concentration should be treated as separate issues. 'There appears to be no evidence that there is a detrimental impact on Scotland due to the scale of land holdings,' they said. ' The Scottish Land Commission's own evidence points to the issue being potentially one of concentrated land ownership in specific areas, rather than scale itself. Therefore any measure of scale will always be an inappropriate instrument in dealing with any adverse impacts on communities or the prosperity of Scotland in a wider context.' READ MORE Ms Villalba said:'To deal with the serious problem of concentrated land ownership, we need a radical shift that prioritises community benefit and empowers local people to shape the future of their land, rather than merely tinkering round the edges. 'Today, Scotland's land is concentrated in the hands of the new nobility—asset managers, foreign billionaires, and the inheritors of huge estates. Just 0.025% of the population own 67% of our countryside. 'This Bill presents a chance to change that, break the ultra-wealthy's grasp on Scotland's resources and build a fairer, more prosperous Scotland for all of us. But currently it simply does not meet the scale of the challenge. 'That is why the proposals must include a presumed limit on ownership over 500 hectares, unless it is in the public interest. 'Without a meaningful public interest test, we risk allowing land to be sold or managed in ways that benefit private interests at the expense of the public good. We need a mechanism that ensures that decisions about land are made with the long-term wellbeing of our communities at heart.'
BBC News
26-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Why is land reform on the agenda in Scotland?
MSPs have given their initial backing to a new Land Reform Scottish government says it wants to change the way land is owned and managed across the country "for the better".Some campaigners are calling for the bill to go further, while landowners have described the proposals as "unworkable".What is land reform and why is it on the agenda? Why is this happening? Scotland has one of the most concentrated landownership patterns in the developed times this has lead to social struggles - such as when crofters won legal rights in 1886 - and has inspired plays and protest in recent in the Highlands and Islands have bought and managed vast swathes of land over recent decades, and a community right-to-buy was made law in many still feel that more change is by the former Green MSP Andy Wightman suggests that the concentration of landowners has increased in recent years with 50% of land owned by around 420 people. Around 4% is owned by people and companies from abroad. Land in Scotland has also become more expensive in recent years and off-market sales are still common, according to the Scottish Land can also have land sales sprung on them. Residents in the south of the Isle of Skye complained when they learned a 20,000 acre estate would be on the market with only two days notice. Rural Secretary Mairi Gougeon said the case was a good example of why further land reform measures were needed. A parliamentary committee said the scarcity of useful land "stops some communities flourishing."Introducing the bill, Gougeon said that the Scottish government does "not feel its right that ownership and control of much of Scotland's land is still in the hands of relatively few people."The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill aims to address the concentration of landownership as well as giving communities a greater say in what happens on privately owned land. What's in the bill? The new laws would regulate how land is used across Scotland as well as how land can be bought and would affect lots of different people, like the owners of huge estates, tenant farmers and crofters, and community-run have already been big changes over the years, but the Scottish government said that the benefits and opportunities of the country's land needs to be more widely bill is in two first part would make owners of the biggest landholdings tell the surrounding community more about what happens on the land. It also suggests ways to make it easier for community groups to buy land when it comes up for second part deals with agricultural and environmental uses of leased farm even while recommending the bill to parliament, the Net Zero, Energy and Transport committee said it was too big and too complicated. Why is it controversial? While there is broad support for much of what's in the bill, the first part - about land ownership and use - is more landowners have warned that ministers would be given far too much power to "interfere" in landowners business, including forcing the break up of large estates before they are sold into smaller Land and Estates, an organisation of private landowners, said that too much "unevidenced" focus was being put on large it argued that big estates could actually help meet aims like climate executive Sarah-Jane Laing said the bill required "significant revisions".She added: "As it stands, it threatens to burden rural businesses with excessive red tape and add significant costs to the public purse while failing to deliver real benefits for communities."But land reform campaigners think the bill does not go far Land Scotland (CLS) urged MSPs to push for tougher changes to break up "archaic" landownership in Josh Doble, CLS policy manager, said: "Scotland's history of concentrated landownership and lack of public oversight a has resulted in one of the world's most depleted natural environments, alongside a lack of opportunities, democracy and wealth sharing." What was said at Holyrood? Most political parties backed the general principles of the during the Holyrood debate, the Scottish Conservatives urged the Scottish government to scrap the bill and pursue other means by "working with landowners".Scottish Conservative MSP Tim Eagle said it was "by far the worst bill" he had seen in Ewing, SNP MSP for Inverness and Nairn, said a different approach was needed and argued that measures in the bill could "dampen" the rural Labour's Rhoda Grant said the party supported the bill but want to see it go further. Liam McArthur, of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, described it as a "mixed bag" and urged ministers to strike an "appropriate balance between rights and responsibilities".Ariane Burgess, of the Scottish Greens, supported the bill but said it was "disappointingly lacking in ambition".After the debate MSPs backed the general principles of the bill - by 91 votes to 29 - and it will now go back to the committee for more means it could become law before the next Scottish election in in the meantime the debate on how best to manage land ownership in Scotland will continue.
