Rural businesses urge ministers to rethink plans to sell-off large estates in lots

Press Release

Scottish Land & Estates, the rural business organisation, today urged Scottish Government to take on board ‘deeply felt concern’ over new land reform legislation that will give Ministers the power to make landowners sell large rural estates in lots.

After giving evidence today on the Land Reform Bill to the Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, Sarah-Jane Laing, chief executive of Scottish Land & Estates, said: “Land-based businesses have no problem adapting to the evolution of land legislation.

“However, there is deeply felt concern that the provisions within this Bill to enable government ministers to break up estates and have them sold off in lots is bureaucratic, unworkable and may well impact the delivery of better outcomes for people, jobs and nature.

“We urge Ministers and members of the Scottish Parliament who are now dealing with this Bill to rethink the lotting provisions and address the uncertainty that is being created by them. As things stand, it is difficult to see how decisions would be made successfully and there is no clue on what timescales would be applied. 

“What should not happen is that we end up with a system where it will dissuade investment and people bringing property to the market will back off.”

Giving evidence to the committee, Scottish Land & Estates, NFUS and the Scottish Countryside Alliance raised objections to the lotting provisions.

Ms Laing also highlighted concerns over prior-notification process where rural property owners over 1,000 hectares would be required to notify Scottish Ministers before any land sale – even a cottage or a garden area to a neighbour.

Ms Laing said that landowners are willing to embrace measures that contribute towards thriving communities. She said that there has been ‘great progress’ on community engagement and SLE supports the ongoing development of legislation as land use policies evolve.

She said SLE also supports the principle of land management planning for large estates but is concerned over the level of detail that could be required and the potential for sanctions if landowners cannot deliver on their aspirations for whatever reason. 

She said: “The question we ask is what is the perceived problem that we are trying to address in this Bill? There seems to be a premise that big is bad and this is a view we fundamentally disagree with.

“We are fully supportive of measures that help people work together more in order to deliver the right outcomes for rural communities.”