LAND REFORM (SCOTLAND) BILL: TO BE CONTINUED…

In March 2024, the Scottish Government introduced the much awaited and controversial Land Reform (Scotland) Bill (the “Bill”) which aims to reform the law relating to large landholdings and leases of rural land. The key points in the Bill are:

• Landholdings exceeding 3,000 hectares (with special rules for islands): The Scottish Ministers would have powers to make regulations about land management plans which owners must produce and make publicly available.
• Landholdings exceeding 1,000 hectares: (1) A prohibition on the sale of part or whole without first notifying the Scottish Ministers and allowing communities the opportunity to use the community right to buy late application process and (2) a prohibition on sale without a lotting decision from the Scottish Ministers.
• Various changes to agricultural and small holdings legislation.

A target date for passing the Bill has not been publicised and the Bill awaits the parliamentary process where it will be considered and amendments to it are certain to be made. In particular, the hectarage thresholds referred to above are likely to come under scrutiny. The Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee (the lead parliamentary committee responsible for reviewing on the Bill) published a consultation seeking views on the Bill which closed on 21 May 2024. A link to the published responses to the consultation is available here.

In the meantime, the Scottish Government has proposed a review of all current rights to buy in Summer 2024 (with a report due at the end of 2025) to determine whether new legislation is required. It is therefore possible that any changes made to the community right to buy as a part of this wider process could have a further impact on the transfers of the whole or part(s) of large landholdings (and indeed any other land which does not meet the hectarage thresholds referred to above).

It awaits to be seen what impact (if any) there will be on Bill as a result of the ending of the co-operation agreement between the SNP and the Scottish Green Party (also known as the “Bute House Agreement”) or any change in the Scottish Government at the next Scottish Parliament election. However, it is thought that it will be very unlikely that the Bill will be withdrawn altogether.

Please see our briefing note for more information about the Bill.