So says the Scottish government, but for many in the land reform movement a new act represents unfinished business

With plaudits like “radical”, “transformative”, and “new dawn for land reform” being thrown about by the Scottish government, the land reform (Scotland) bill had its final passage through Holyrood late on Wednesday evening.



But for many underwhelmed land reform campaigners, this new act represents unfinished business.

Voted through Holyrood by 102 votes to 14, the legislation includes new protections for tenant farmers (which we’ve written about here) and an end to tax relief for sporting estates and is accompanied by a new Scottish Land Fund opening on 1 April with £10m available to help community buy-outs.

But amendments that would have restricted the amount of land that one individual can own, and prevented land ownership via offshore tax havens, were voted down by SNP and Conservative backbenchers following a lengthy debate, to the huge disappointment of the wider land reform movement.

As Nicky MacCrimmon, who championed the grassroots rebellion on the issue at last November’s SNP conference, told the Guardian on Wednesday night:

I’m pleased we are having this debate and welcome every part of the bill that is being passed and will eventually become the Act. I’m less pleased about what has not made it, particularly the amendment calling for a ban on land being owned by companies in tax havens. What is doubly disappointing is that there may well be a very good reason that this amendment was not supported by the Scottish government but as their legal advice is to remain private we have no way of having an informed debate on the topic.”

Earlier this week, Andy Wightman, land reform spokesman for the Scottish Greens and MSP candidate for Lothian, revealed that companies owned by the Buccleuch Estates used tax havens in the Cayman Islands.



The limited nature of this legislation demonstrates that we need a bolder Holyrood with more Green voices. With a government majority it’s simply baffling that the SNP - whose own membership has been agitating for radical measures - have passed up the opportunity to deliver real reforms. The Green bid to clamp down on the use of tax havens goes to the heart of understanding who owns Scotland. As we have seen this week with the uncovering of the complex corporate affairs of the Buccleuch Estates, there is an urgent need to ensure transparency in who profits from Scottish land.

Jean Urquhart, an MSP and RISE candidate for the Highlands and Islands, said that socially just land ownership had to be a priority for the next parliamentary session:

There is more demand for action on tax haven owning land than on any other issue since I became an MSP as evidenced by the 500 plus emails from constituents only in the Highlands and Islands region that I represent. 750 acres of land in the Hs & Is registered offshore in tax havens and this bill, as it stands, does little to address this. One amendment that was voted down today would have created an open and public register of landowners in Scotland. The secrecy surrounding who owns Scotland’s land has to end to allow meaningful land reform to take place. Unfortunately it seems that every time the big landowners threaten legal action, the Scottish government backs down.

Welcoming the legislation, the minister for environment, climate change and land reform, Dr Aileen McLeod, insisted that this was just the beginning: