Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government has taken a number of important steps to support its Land Reform objectives including supporting diversity of land ownership.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill is currently being considered by Parliament and represents a significant step forward on Scotland’s Land Reform journey. The Bill will give communities more opportunities to use their Right to Buy and will stop sales of large landholdings from proceeding until Ministers can consider the impact on local communities. Ministers will be able to require land to be sold in lots, further supporting diversity of ownership. The Bill will also require landowners to engage with local communities, giving them more of a say in how land is used and managed, and will also improve the rights of tenant farmers.

The proposals in the Bill build upon the success of earlier legislation such as the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016. This helped establish the Scottish Land Commission which provides evidence-based advice to inform land policy in Scotland and also works to support good practice in land ownership, management and use, and also the functions of the Tenant Farming Commissioner.

As Summary of Research and Recommendations has shown, concentrated land ownership and the associated lack of supply of land can lead to many important social, economic or environmental objectives being more difficult to achieve. That is why we are taking ambitious action to tackle it through the Bill and other work. These steps support the many sector-specific policies that apply to all land, irrespective of ownership.

Scotland has a proud history of land reform since devolution. The Government is committed to driving forward land reform and increasing diversity of land ownership in a way that is fair, proportionate and within the terms of the current devolution settlement.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W 41083 on 21 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Scottish Government consideration to these issues is set out at paragraph 279 of the Scottish Government response to the NZET Committee Stage 2 Report on the Bill. This report has been published on the Scottish Parliament website for the Bill: Scottish Government response to LRB Stage 1 report.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W 41083 on 21 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W 41083 on 21 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W 41083 on 21 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W 41083 on 21 October 2025 All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W 41083 on 21 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W 41083 on 21 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The Scottish Government is proud of the positive impacts of these three pieces of legislation.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 introduced the community right to buy and the crofting right to buy. There have been over 275 applications under the various rights (including those introduced in 2015 and 2018). It also created a legal framework for the right to responsible access for land.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 built upon this success by establishing the Scottish Land Commission, ensuring we now have a permanent public body providing independent research and analysis and supporting Land Reform objectives. It also put the Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement on a statutory footing, supported transparency of land ownership through the creation of the Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land and promoted community engagement.

The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 created new rights for community bodies and placed new duties on public authorities contributing to significant progress in supporting the empowerment of communities across Scotland. The Act has also encouraged greater numbers of public service providers to engage with their communities on a range of matters to help improve local service delivery. In relation to Asset Transfer in the Act, it is the first of its kind in the UK and around 500 asset transfer requests have been made since 2017. Community organisations have taken ownership or lease of forests, parks, woodlands, sports and recreational facilities and community hubs.

The Scottish Government has undertaken a variety of work related to this legislation. The Scottish Government regularly commissions research including ongoing work through the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) Strategic Research Programme:

• Scotland’s Land Reform Futures | SEFARI
• Land Reform Land Reform in Scotland Insights

The Scottish Government has commissioned research on the impact of diversity of land ownership:

• Attitudes to land reform: research - gov.scot
• The impact of diversity of ownership scale on social, economic and environmental outcomes: Exploration and case studies - March 2016

Each of the three pieces of legislation in the question cover numerous different policy issues. Different parts have been reviewed through different work programmes over time, across various research projects, reports, and evidence reviews, in particular:

(a) The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 contains four policy parts, introducing legal powers aimed at improving public access and enabling community land ownership.

As part of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, specifically part 1, there was a review of the whole Act by the Land Reform Review Group published in 2014 - The land of Scotland and the common good: report - gov.scot.

In 2012 - Overview of Evidence on Land Reform in Scotland - gov.scot provided an overview of the evidence available on the implementation and progress of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

The Scottish Government is also currently undertaking a review of Community Right to Buy due to complete by the end of 2025.

(b) The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 Act has 11 policy parts. On 31 March 2025, the Scottish Government published the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015: update and findings report which provides in-depth reviews of Part 3: Participation Requests and Part 5: Asset Transfer, an assessment of the implementation of Part 2: Community Planning and an update on all the other parts of the Act.

(c) The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 contains 12 policy parts, introducing different legal powers and responsibilities.

The Scottish Land Commission provides evidence-based advice to inform land policy in Scotland. They provide independent oversight and strategic advice on matters relating to land in Scotland, and the Land Commissioners’ functions includes reviewing the impact and effectiveness of laws and policies and recommending changes. More information about their work can be found on their website.

(d) In reference to concentrated land ownership, please see my response S6W-40547.