The Rural Land Market Data Report 2025 tracks activity across farmland, forestry, and estates over 25 hectares using Registers of Scotland data. Now in its fourth year, it shows a market that has settled after the peak activity of 2021–22, but with clear differences between sectors.

Forestry saw the biggest shift. The average price per hectare fell to £10,054, down from £15,327 in 2023, even though the number of sales remained steady. The figures point to the market adjusting after a period of intense demand linked to woodland creation and natural capital projects.

Large-scale transactions also remained scarce. Only six sales over 1,000 hectares were recorded in 2024. Just six sales over 1,000 hectares were recorded in 2024, and across the past five years, 94 per cent of all rural land sales were under 500 hectares – showing that most buying and selling continues to revolve around farms, forestry blocks, and smaller estates rather than the large headline-grabbing sales sometimes seen in the media.

Farmland trends were more mixed. The average size of a sale dropped to 81 hectares, the lowest in five years, yet the average price per hectare rose to £16,502, the highest in the dataset. This reflects strong, locally driven demand for smaller parcels of land, particularly where neighbouring farms are looking to expand.

The estate market was especially quiet, with just 16 sales recorded, the lowest total in five years. This reflects both a quieter pool of buyers and fewer estates coming onto the market. While interest remains mixed, ranging from farming and amenity buyers to those interested in environmental projects the rapid price rises seen a few years ago have not continued.

The report also highlights continuing gaps in Scotland’s land market data, such as missing price or area information for some sales. These gaps limit the ability to fully understand what is happening on the ground. The Commission is working with partners to improve data quality and accessibility, recognising that better information is essential for supporting land reform, monitoring land-use change, and ensuring decisions affecting rural communities are based on sound evidence.

James MacKessack-Leitch, policy & practice lead at the Scottish Land Commission, said: “The Rural Land Market Data Report continues to be a vital resource for understanding activity in the Scottish land market, and once again the insights we reported earlier this year are borne out by the data published today.”

“Although our methodology has continued to improve, the quality of the data available remains a significant challenge. While small improvements to the source data may be possible, the reality is that in order to better inform professionals and policymakers, and to meet Scotland’s ambitions for land reform, a step-change is needed in how we collect, collate, and access land data.”