THE housing crisis. Soaring energy bills. Crumbling high streets. Nature loss. Climate breakdown. Depopulation. Food security.  

These might not be the usual things that spring to mind when you hear the words “land reform”.

But land reform – changing how our land is owned, managed, and regulated – is a fundamental part of how we seriously tackle these huge and damaging issues, all of which are directly connected to Scotland’s largely unregulated land market.

Why? Because land is everything.

Land is where decisions about our economy, our environment, our culture, and our society are played out.  

These decisions affect our daily lives. Land is where we get our energy to run our homes and businesses and often determines how much it costs. Land determines where and how new housing gets built and for whom. Land often dictates where investment goes for sustainable new industries and well-paid jobs.

It even shapes where you can go for a run or walk your dog. All of these things are deeply tied up with decisions about land.  

Obscene influence of an elite minority

IT’S the ownership of land and the rights associated with it that lie at the heart of the power and influence over decision-making in our country. In a nation of more than

5.5 million people, we face the obscene situation where over 50% of Scotland’s private rural land is owned by just over 400 landowners.

It’s obscene because that power over decision-making rests with an elite minority who are often hidden in opaque offshore trusts.

But how can we possibly tackle the big issues facing us if land is controlled by a select few? 

With a new Scottish Parliament elected in May and a new government formed, we urgently need the new cohort at Holyrood to push for progress on the key questions: Who owns Scotland’s land? How does the land get used? Who gets public grants, loans, and reliefs? How are the benefits shared?

Crucially, we’re not starting from scratch. Scotland’s communities have been trailblazers for change, delivering an alternative radical vision for how land can be used for the better. Communities from across Scotland, from the Isle of Eigg to Abriachan and Knoydart, came together to take ownership of the land. They developed innovative and sustainable community enterprises that have since transformed their local areas.  

This activity has been supported over the years by the Scottish Parliament, including three land reform acts and one community empowerment act, providing rights for communities to acquire land and assets.  

There are now about 700 community-owned projects across Scotland, the vast majority strengthening communities and local economies. The Scottish Parliament should be proud of this history.

But we need to go much, much further to rewire our economy to deliver for local people. We need to move beyond rhetoric and take truly meaningful steps to tackle the pattern of private landownership in Scotland.

Centuries of land dispossession and decades of underinvestment have severely undermined community capacity to organise themselves. Those who have succeeded in navigating this complex and opaque legislative and policy environment have fought hard, with one hand tied behind their back, to achieve what they have.  

Many community organisations have overcome these administrative obstacles only to fall at the final hurdle when they struggle to raise the huge sums of money needed to buy. Simply put, public funding through the Scottish Land Fund has not kept pace with Scotland’s soaring property values.

These soaring prices have been encouraged, perhaps unwittingly, by government policy underpinning speculative land and housing markets. Scotland’s communities deserve so much better.  

Community ownership can transform society

BY creating the conditions for more community ownership, we can foster so many more opportunities for community-led entrepreneurship and economic regeneration. Community ownership as part of a wider land reform journey offers us a unique opportunity to change how our economy works and who benefits.

It gives us the chance to provide real solutions to the big issues of the day; delivering affordable homes, cheap energy, high street regeneration, nature restoration, locally produced food, and enhancing Scotland’s culture and heritage.  

Our communities aren’t chasing quick profits; their “return on investment” is long-term sustainability of people and place.  

So, what can the Scottish Government do to address the questions of who owns Scotland’s land, how it’s used, and who benefits? A lot, and a lot can be done quickly. There’s no excuse for governments to drag their feet.

The five quick wins to the land reform challenge

FIRSTLY, let’s properly fund the Scottish Land Fund. There are around £23m worth of community ownership projects in the pipeline, so we are calling for multi-year annual funding of £25m by the end of this Scottish Parliament.  

Next, let’s make community right to buy legislation (CRtB) easier for community organisations. These important land rights were consulted on last year, as the Government accepted they needed updating. There was widespread support for streamlining and simplifying the CRtB process. Let’s make these urgent changes.   

Thirdly, we’ve got many vacant and derelict bits of land and empty buildings in Scotland’s villages and cities. These could be doing something useful for nearby communities and the local economy.

That’s why we’re calling for bringing these assets back into productive use by reforming compulsory purchase orders and introducing compulsory sales orders. 

Next, the provisions outlined in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 need to be put into practice as soon as possible. Legislation is of no use gathering dust on the shelf.   

Finally, let’s get round to developing a modern, functional Scottish land information service (SCOTLIS) with a publicly accessible digital portal that integrates information and data on land and property; ownership, valuation, land use, public spending, environmental data, and tax. This would mean that anyone in Scotland could look at who owns, manages and benefits from the land in their local area. 

More than 10 years ago, the now first minister of Scotland committed to delivering such a system. We’re still waiting.

These five asks are just some of the lowest-hanging fruit the Government and parliament can engage with early in this session. But delivering them won’t be the end of our land reform journey.

The present land management system in Scotland is chaotic.

There is a long way to go – from central belt city centres to island crofting communities, land reform is for everyone. Get involved with your local community organisations, write to your MSPs, start a buyout process. Let’s grow our land reform movement to transform this country for the better.