20 years on the once pioneering legislation is no longer fit for purpose and is tripping up communities. Those opposed to community purchases have learned how to play the system. From 2018 to 2022 there were 5 successful applications on average annually, however from 2003 to 2017 there were triple this number. Since 2017 none of the necessary ‘late’ applications that allow communities to respond to unexpected sales have been approved. The legislation is failing communities in Scotland’s most resource deprived areas, where dealing with onerous legislation and bureaucratic systems can be even more challenging. We will be publishing evidence on this in the New Year.

Scottish land prices are soaring, driven by speculative investor interest in commercial forestry, carbon credits and land banking. In areas of the south of Scotland land prices have increased by over 450% in just four years. Scotland’s lack of regulation over the land market fuels investor speculation – the public interest in the potential use of the land doesn’t figure.

Communities cannot afford inflated land values, and the current Land Fund cannot cope with a land market that can see small estates selling for multiple millions. Welcome increases planned for the Land Fund annually don’t begin to keep pace with market forces. Bold, robust legislation and regulation can ask important public interest questions to impact the speculative buying up of Scotland.

The Scottish Government has said it wants to diversify Scotland’s land ownership, to combat the private land monopolies, stop wealth extraction and build community wealth, and deliver a just transition to a low carbon future for the coming generations. Few would want to see these ambitions thwarted by legislation lacking the necessary imagination and ambition for real change.