Outrage as Scots government plans to break up larger holdings

Scottish landowners have slated a new Land Reform Bill tabled in Holyrood on Thursday (14 March) which sets out plans to break up larger farms and estates should they come to market.

The reform bill – the third in a little over 20 years – builds on many of the recommendations put forward by the Scottish Land Commission in an earlier report.

See also: Scottish land owners must register interest or risk £5,000 fine

This includes a proposal to give government ministers the power to require the lotting, or dividing up, of larger land holdings into smaller areas, plus a requirement to notify communities prior to sale.

Rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “We do not think it is right that ownership and control of much of Scotland’s land is still in the hands of relatively few people. 

“Crucially, when one of these landholdings is being sold, we want government to have the power to step in and require that it be sold in smaller parcels to different people if that will help to make local populations and communities more sustainable.”

Punishing

Landowners’ body Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) has described the introduction of the bill as a “cocktail of bureaucratic and interventionist measures”.

Sarah-Jane Laing, chief executive of Scottish Land & Estates, said the Scottish government was using “outdated ideology” to punish those rural businesses making a huge contribution to Scotland.

“Some of the measures signal a huge U-turn by ministers from utilising land to pursue net zero towards a full-on attack on the property rights of large farms and estates,” she said.

Ms Laing said SLE supported the idea of increased transparency, but the impact on people, jobs and nature would be significant.

“The government is taking an irrational approach to farms and estates over 1,000ha, which seems to be driven purely by a desire to break these up regardless of the outcome,” she said.

“The suggestion that a property going on the market should be lotted by government before being listed is absurd. The blizzard of regulations they are proposing will create conflict, cause market uncertainty and deter much-needed investment.”

Meaningful

But the Scottish Land Commission (SLC) has welcomed the bill, describing it as a “meaningful and important step forward in addressing the over-concentration of land ownership, which continues to be a central issue in Scotland’s ongoing journey of land reform”.

Michael Russell, commission chairman said: “Our research has consistently shown the pitfalls associated with such a concentration of land ownership, including the impacts that localised monopolies can have on local economic opportunities and communities.”

SLC chief executive Hamish Trench added that intervention by the Scottish government to break up large land holdings was not out of step with international norms.

“Our research shows that governments worldwide often regulate land markets to safeguard the public interest and support sustainable development,” he said.

The bill will now be subject to parliamentary scrutiny, and possible amendment, before becoming law.