Diversifying landownership and strengthening community ownership and control is not just a fair approach; it is the key to putting Scotland’s future in the hands of its people and ensuring a more equitable and sustainable future.
That is why our first policy priority ahead of the 2026 election is to ask for 10% of Scotland to be community owned by the end of the Parliament delivered by a clear plan to significantly increase community landownership and reduce the concentration of private landownership in Scotland – including a Land Reform Bill with a meaningful Public Interest Test on all landownership and targeted taxation to deliver land reform outcomes.
Community landownership has repeatedly shown its value, giving people the ability to shape their local economies, create housing and jobs, restore nature and generate clean energy. But to unlock this potential at scale, it is essential that Scotland addresses its concentrated pattern of landownership and ensures a revitalised democracy rooted in communities themselves.
A new Land Reform Bill is a crucial mechanism to do that. Within this Bill, there needs to be a meaningful public interest test on large-scale landownership – a concept proposed by the Scottish Land Commission over the past five years, and which the Scottish Government had previously committed to with 72% of respondents strongly supporting the proposed measure within their consultation on this matter.
Combined with targeted taxation and a clear national plan to expand community ownership, these measures can shift the archaic status quo.
Reaching 10% community ownership is ambitious; but it is achievable, necessary and the clear next step to build a Scotland where land is owned and managed for the public good.
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