The Scottish government has launched a double-edged land reform consultation which will make it easier to trace landowners — but severely restrict who the land can be sold to.
Existing methods can make it laborious to trace and contact landowners, claims ScotGov, “frequently obscuring who actually has control over land and making it very difficult for those seeking to engage with land owners”.
Its Future of Land Reform in Scotland exercise not only aims to remove the hoops potential investors and developers need to go through to establish land ownership, but it also wants to ban companies, trusts and partnerships based outwith the European Union from acquiring Scottish land.
“The Scottish Government’s vision is for a strong relationship between the people of Scotland and the land of Scotland,” explained the newly-appointed Environment and Land Reform Minister Aileen McLeod.
“We want to see the ownership and use of land deliver greater public benefits through a democratically accountable and transparent system of land rights that promotes fairness and social justice, environmental sustainability and economic prosperity.
“I am keen to see a fairer and more equitable distribution of land in Scotland where communities and individuals can own and use land to realise their potential,” added McLeod. “Scotland’s land must be an asset that benefits the many, not just the few.”
Under the present system, information on who owns land is held by various bodies including Registers of Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and all the country’s local authorities. “This consultation will look at finding ways to bring this information together, which will not only inform debate and public decision making but also help private decision making and drive opportunity,” the minister said.
The initiative will also look at ways of modernising how “Common Good” — the name given to the inherited property of the former burghs of Scotland — should be used, managed and transferred.
“There are many different types of ‘Common Good’ assets, such as a local park or a building like a local town hall,” said McCloed. “It is important that these assets are managed appropriately, especially where they have historical, social, cultural or environmental importance to the local community.”
Last week Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, confirmed her government was trebling the Scottish Land Fund, from £3m this year to £10m by 2016, with much of that cash raised by removing tax breaks for sporting estates.
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