New proposals to combine Right to Buy legislation to simplify the process for community groups to take over land and assets have been published.
The Community Right to Buy Review examined the existing powers introduced since 2003:
Community Right to Buy
Crofting Community Right to Buy
Community Right to Buy Abandoned, Neglected or Detrimental Land
Right to Buy Land to Further Sustainable Development
Analysis of consultation responses showed widespread support for consolidating the non-crofting compulsory purchase rights and non-legislative changes such as updating guidance and setting up a public register for existing community groups.
Land Reform Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “Existing legislation has helped revitalise so many areas of Scotland since it came into force, but there is no denying it asks a lot of those who put forward proposals and we committed to making that process easier.
“We’ve listened to all the views put forward and we propose that some of that legislation is merged and updated in the next Parliament.
“The Crofting Community Right to Buy will be updated to simplify the process, rather than merged, as it was clear from those we spoke to about the need to keep this distinct, due to the unique nature of crofting in Scotland.
“We are also working on procedural changes and updates to guidance to support those seeking to invest in their local community.
“I would like to thank all of those who took part in the consultation.”
We have HUGE news to share!Scottish Land Fund have announced that they will fund 100% of the price for Action Porty to buy the former police station building from Police Scotland via a Community Asset Transfer.
We at Action Porty are absolutely thrilled!!! (Actually, that’s an understatement. We were dancing on the tables when we heard the news!)
When Action Porty bought Bellfield on behalf of the community, Scottish Land Fund (SLF) awarded us 90% of the purchase price.
It’s partly our strong track record that led to this amazing result, but its mostly the incredible work, which has been happening behind the scenes, by a group of very dedicated volunteers: Frazer McNaughton, Mark Boggis, Justin Kenrick and Kieran Gaffney, with Kieran and the team at Konishi Gaffney architects and local structural engineer James Lewis, Hive Structural Ltd, providing pro bono services.
Background – what has led us to here?
Aug 2024: Police Scotland announced plans to sell the building. (Operational police officers haven’t been stationed there since 2016).
Oct 2024: 97% of Community Council survey respondents supported community ownership.
Nov 2024: Community consultation event overwhelmingly endorsed Action Porty’s proposal.
Jan 2025: Action Porty submitted the Community Asset Transfer request.
Jul-Sept 2025: Police Scotland agreed to request and price and Scottish Ministers gave their approval.
Dec 2025: with SLF deciding to fund the purchase, we are in reach of the finishing line!
The actual finishing line will be March 2026 when the sale completes.
To meet the funding conditions and complete the sale we need to get the necessary planning permissions and building warrants in place. There’s lots to do!
Watch this space – we’ll share more news as we get it.
What’s next for this iconic public building which has served the community for almost 150 years?
Landmark legislation has been approved to help create new small landholdings to increase farming opportunities and bring agricultural tenancy law into the 21st century.
The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, passed by Parliament, grants greater protections for tenant farmers and small landholders and safeguarding fair compensation should they be removed from their holding.
The Bill will give Ministers powers to split up landholdings of over 1,000 hectares when being sold, provided that it is in the public interest to do so.
It also modernises how new small landholdings are created and operate, protecting their rights and helping new entrants and the next generation of farmers to get access to land.
A consultation about the powers of the Tenant Farming Commissioner and alternative options for dispute resolution will also be launched in the coming weeks as a result of the Bill.
Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “Tenant farmers and small landholders are vital to the fabric of our rural communities, and these reforms will help them to make a decent living on their holding and make improvements on the land they work on.
“It will allow them to work in a way that promotes sustainable and regenerative agricultural production, and – possibly most importantly – be protected from being removed from their holding without fair compensation.
“I am happy we are able to progress in consulting on the role of the Tenant Farming Commissioner so quickly and I would encourage all tenant farmers, small landholders and crofters to make their views known.
“Scotland’s concentrated patterns of ownership developed over centuries, with ownership and control of our nation’s land in the hands of the few for too long.
“In future, communities will have advance notice of sales of large land holdings and Ministers will have the powers to pause them to allow the option of a Right to Buy application to be explored.
“This is an important step in our land reform journey and I am grateful to all those who have worked with us through the Parliamentary process.”
JUNK LAW? Land reform legislation will create bureaucracy and confusion, not change, warns Scottish Land & Estates
Scottish Land & Estates, the rural business organisation, has issued the following statement following the completion of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill at the Scottish Parliament.
Sarah-Jane Laing, chief executive at Scottish Land & Estates, said:“Perhaps uniquely, this legislation has succeeded in uniting landowners, land reform campaigners, lawyers, property agents and accountants – all of whom recognise that, whatever your stance on land reform, this is junk law.
“The reality is that many of the Bill’s provisions are so badly drafted that it will take years of additional work by government and others before they can be implemented in practice – and some may never come into effect at all.
“No one emerges as a winner from this – not government, not landowners, not rural businesses, not communities, and certainly not the taxpayer who will bear much of the cost of the added bureaucracy. The only likely beneficiaries will be lawyers, as property transactions become more complex and the prospect of this Act being the subject of a challenge before the courts.
“The Scottish Government says it wants to empower communities, yet it overlooks the fact that extensive rights for communities to buy land already exist. These powers could be used more often, but the reality is that demand for community ownership is far lower than activists claim.
“We now face the extraordinary prospect of the Scottish Government effectively acting as an estate agent – deciding how property should be broken up before it even reaches the market. For taxpayers who have witnessed the government’s forays into ferries, airports and recycling schemes, that idea will seem utterly absurd.
“Farms and estates also face being saddled with expensive and bureaucratic Land Management Plans that will do nothing to support the prosperity or resilience of rural communities. Whilst we have been firmly supportive of increased transparency and engagement with communities, no other business type is being asked to justify its activities in such a way.
“The government has also missed a major opportunity to revitalise the tenanted farming sector. Instead of encouraging more people to let land, it has chosen to penalise them further by introducing new, financially punitive compensation measures. That approach risks delivering the final blow to a sector already in decline, as those with land to let withdraw in the face of the uncertainty and risk created by this Bill.
“This Bill could have been an opportunity to build consensus and deliver meaningful, practical reform that supports rural Scotland’s people, businesses and environment. Instead, it represents a missed opportunity – one that will create division, confusion and delay at a time when Scotland needs stability, investment and economic growth.
“We urge the Scottish Government to pause, reflect and work with all stakeholders to develop legislation that truly serves the long-term interests of our rural communities.”
Views are being sought on how to improve legal rights intended to help community groups take ownership of local land and assets.
Discussions with those who have engaged with the Rights to Buy have been taking place since last year to develop the proposals published for consultation today (Monday).
Since 2003, 268 applications for Rights to Buy have been received from community groups seeking to acquire their own assets, with two-thirds of these (175) approved by Scottish Ministers.
Rural Affairs and Land Reform Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “The first Community Right to Buy was introduced more than 20 years ago in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.
“Those rights have since been extended to cover rural, urban and crofting communities, pre-emptive and compulsory rights, neglected land and assets, and land to support the sustainable development of communities.
“Our discussions with stakeholders have shown that the Rights to Buy process can be complicated and demanding. These insights have helped us set out proposed improvements that we are now seeking views on.
“I would encourage anyone with an interest to take part in this consultation over the next 12 weeks to help Scotland remain a world leader in driving community ownership and investment in our land and assets.”
Chair of the Scottish Land Commission, Michael Russell, said: “Community Rights to Buy give people a real chance to take an active role in the future of their local places.
“This consultation is an important step to ensure these rights remain clear, practical and effective in helping communities take ownership of land and buildings that matter to them.
“We are pleased to be chairing a reference group to support the Scottish Government’s review, and we encourage everyone with an interest to share their views through this consultation.”
Review of powers of communities to acquire land or buildings
A review of Community Rights to Buy will begin this summer to look at how effective current powers are.
Community Right to Buy has now been in use for 20 years. During that time, there have been several additions and amendments to the original rights in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, and various reports and recommendations on how to improve and amend them further.
Speaking during a visit to the Heart of Newhaven, a community facility which was bought by the community in 2021 through the Asset Transfer process, Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “Ownership or control of land and buildings – both urban and rural – is a powerful tool for communities to drive change and achieve their goals. It can help to develop the local economy, provide activities and services, and boost community identity.
“We want to increase community ownership as an important way of delivering our vision for Scotland and our three central missions of equality, opportunity and community.
“This review will begin in Summer 2024, following introduction of the Land Reform Bill and report at the end of 2025 and will cover all the current rights to buy and will look at legislative and procedural aspects of the rights to see if new legislation is needed.”
Background
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 introduced the first two community rights to buy. The Community Right to Buy (Part 2) gave rural communities the right to register an interest in assets. Should the owner choose to sell, the community could then be granted the right to buy that asset without it being offered to anyone else. The Crofting Community Right to Buy (Part 3) gave communities in crofting areas a right to compulsory purchase of assets, whether or not the owner wishes to sell.
The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 then amended the Community Right to Buy to widen the rights to urban communities. It also introduced the Community Right to Buy Abandoned, Neglected or Detrimental Land (Part 3A). This is a compulsory purchase right for land that is abandoned, neglected or detrimental to the environmental wellbeing of communities.
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2018 introduced a further compulsory right, the Right to Buy Land to Further Sustainable Development (Part 5). This compulsory right does not need land to be in a certain condition and allows communities to nominate a third party purchase on their behalf.
Green MSP Alison Johnstone used yesterday’s First Minister’s Questions to highlight the “gazumping” of one of Scotland’s first major urban community buy-outs, the Sick Kids Hospital site at Sciennes. Green councillor Claire Miller also raised the issue of the Sick Kids sell-off during yesterday’s full council meeting.Continue reading Gazumped! Green concerns over Sick Kids sell-off
An Edinburgh community group has become the first organisation in an urban area to benefit from community right to buy powers. Action Porty has now taken ownership of the former Bellfield Portobello Old Parish Church with a view to transforming it into a multi-use community hub.Continue reading Right to buy success for Action Porty
New report highlights the benefits and challenges of Community Right to Buy
Community Right to Buy can make a real change to local communities, according to more than half of respondents who took part in a report published by the Scottish Government yesterday.
The report shows that over the last ten years, 206 community bodies have been established, 72 of which have successfully registered an interest in land under the Community Right to Buy.
Those surveyed identified a range of skills that had been improved in the community as a result of the Community Right to Buy process including legal knowledge, knowledge about the community and its aims, communications skills and organisational skills.
The report also showed that:
57 per cent of respondents agreed that Community Right to Buy had stimulated ideas of how the community could use local land and buildings differently
62 per cent of respondents agreed that Community Right to Buy had helped the community think more about the use of land and assets
54 per cent of respondents agreed that the Community Right to Buy process helped understand the needs of the community
Speaking at Comrie Development Trust, Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, Dr Aileen McLeod said:
“I’m delighted to be here at Comrie Development Trust, who successfully used the Community Right to Buy to purchase 90 acres at Cultybraggan Camp. Since purchasing the Camp in 2007 the Trust has worked closely with the local community to develop a range of activities including a community orchard, allotments, sports and recreational facilities and renewable energy projects.
“Comrie Development Trust is an example of the benefits the Community Right to Buy can bring to local communities. I welcome today’s report which looks at the impact of community right to buy legislation over the last 10 years, for the first time.
“The report identifies examples of successes by community groups purchasing land through Community Right to Buy and also identifies barriers that face community groups and what we can do to address this.
“This report will contribute to our on-going work on community ownership of land through the Community Empowerment legislation, as well as our proposals for communities to compulsory acquire land for their sustainable development through the Land Reform Bill.”
Chair of the Comrie Development Trust Board, Bill Thow said:
“Investment funds to achieve the community ownership of Cultybraggan Camp has already brought many benefits to the local area. The Trust is now looking to build on that foundation of ownership to generate significant investment funds back into the village community, both through its share offer and consultation events.”
The report comes as the Scottish Government awards £175,000 over the next three years to Community Land Scotland, to promote community ownership across the whole of Scotland.
Dr McLeod added: “As part of our commitment to encourage other groups to follow successful communities like Comrie, we have recently awarded Community Land Scotland a grant of £175.000 over the next three years, to promote community ownership across the whole of Scotland.
“This grant will also help to facilitate the exchange of information so that communities can learn from others experiences and successes. This is an important way to inspire communities to see the benefits of community land ownership, and to provide help and support through the community landownership journey.”
Chair of Community Land Scotland, Lorne MacLeod said:
“Community Land Scotland is delighted that the Scottish Government is recognising through this grant that our organisation and members have an important role to play over the coming years in helping promote and explain community ownership, in supporting communities to realise their ambitions to own land, and in strengthening the sector.
“We look forward to playing our part in this ever evolving story of how Scottish land is being owned and managed differently, by local communities, and contributing to a more sustainable future.”
We have HUGE news to share! Scottish Land Fund have announced that they will fund 100% of the price for Action Porty to buy the former police station building from Police Scotland via a Community Asset Transfer.
We at Action Porty are absolutely thrilled!!! (Actually, that’s an understatement. We were dancing on the tables when we heard the news!)
The actual finishing line will be March 2026 when the sale completes.
– we’ll share more news as we get it.
