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.”
