Scottish Land Commission calls for community ownership to be proactive, not reactive

Lorne Macleod

The report, which follows a review of existing community right to buy mechanisms and community ownership in Scotland, makes a number of recommendations to ministers for the future of community right to buy; in particular, that community ownership should become a routine option for communities, so it is planned and proactive rather than reactive.

Informed by research by a team led by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), the report considered the experience of community ownership over the last 25 years since the first buy out in Assynt.

The commission will now work with Scottish government to bring interested stakeholders together to shape the policy tools and specific interventions needed to deliver the recommendations in the report.

These include:

• embedding community land and asset ownership into local place planning
• ensuring that targets for community ownership reflect the outcomes sought in both rural and urban communities
• ensuring support for community ownership transfers is provided across the whole geography of Scotland
• considering longer-term sources of financial support for both capital costs and post-acquisition development
• supporting negotiated transfer of land as the norm, whilst streamlining right to buy processes

Speaking about the report, Lorne Macleod, Scottish land commissioner, said that community ownership and right to buy has developed significantly over the last 20 years, adding: “Community ownership is now seen as integral to regeneration and sustainable development in both rural and urban contexts in Scotland.

“It should be seen as normal and routine, as it is internationally, for a community to acquire and own land that could provide local housing, business development, community facilities, recreation facilities, greenspace, as a fundamental way to create more vibrant communities and regional economies.”

Land Reform Secretary Roseanna Cunningham commented: “Community ownership, when done properly, has been shown time and again to deliver real benefits to communities, providing a long-term sustainable future for the land and assets acquired.

“It has been great to see such an increase in community ownership in recent years, thanks to the success of some amazing local groups working with the Scottish Government. This is unlocking potential in our urban, rural and island communities and giving local people a say in their future, and I hope to see many more communities getting involved in the years ahead.”

Read the report here