SNP candidate for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Eilidh Munro, has hailed the passing of the new Land Reform (Scotland) Bill as a “significant step forward” in giving communities greater power over Scotland’s land.
The bill passed at Holyrood by 85 votes to 28, with nine abstentions, and introduces new requirements for large estates to produce Land Management Plans and give advance notice to local communities before selling land.
Crucially, the legislation also allows estates to be broken up for sale, making it more manageable and affordable for communities to take ownership.
Munro said the new powers continue Scotland’s long-standing tradition of progressive land reform, first driven by the SNP government under previous administrations.
“This legislation represents an important step forward in putting power back into the hands of communities,” she said.
“Building on the SNP’s legacy of radical land reform, this is the latest chapter in Scotland’s ongoing land reform journey, giving communities more power over how the land around them is used, managed and owned.”
Munro pointed to the recent sale of the Clan Donald Estate in Armadale as a clear example of why such measures are needed.
“As we saw with the situation earlier this year in Armadale where the Clan Donald Estate was put up for sale without any community engagement or consideration, it’s clear that further transparency and proactive engagement with local communities must be required of large landowners.”
Scotland’s pattern of concentrated private land ownership has long been a source of debate.
A small number of landowners control large areas of rural Scotland, a situation Munro says must change.
“The concentration of private land ownership in Scotland is still far too high; we are an outlier in comparison with other European countries where more diverse land ownership is the norm,” she said.
“Scotland’s land must be an asset that benefits the many, not the few, and it must play a leading role in sustainable, thriving rural communities.”
The Land Reform Bill is designed to bring greater fairness and accountability to land ownership, supporting community empowerment and sustainable development across rural Scotland.
For campaigners and communities alike, it marks a historic moment in the nation’s evolving relationship with its land, one that aims to ensure those who live and work on it have a stronger voice in its future.
