Maria Taciuk-Cabrolier (University of Edinburgh), Struan Macdonald (University of Dundee) and Charles Phillips (University of Edinburgh) were law student scholars, participating in the WS Society Summer Scholarship programme during July 2025. The Summer Scholars presented their research on the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill to a group of lawyers working in the areas of land law, property law and commercial law. The Scholars highlighted the impacts of Land Management Plans, the community right to buy and lotting on landholders and the public should the Bill be passed by the Scottish Parliament.
An excerpt of their article which summarises their research and CPD presentation can be read below.
Introduction
Land reform has been a legislative priority since devolution and seen several landmark pieces of legislation passed including:
Abolition of Feudal Tenure (Scotland) Act 2000
Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003
Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015
Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016
The latest in this series is the new Land Reform (Scotland) Bill which was introduced in March 2024. Part 1 of the Bill seeks to improve transparency in the management of land, strengthen existing community rights to buy, and provide for the breaking up of land prior to sale and is based on the recommendations of the Scottish Land Commission, published in 2019, which concluded that: “In some parts of Scotland concentrated landownership appears to be causing significant and long-term damage to the communities affected”.
This feature aims to explain and analyse Part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, in particular the proposed systems for Land Management Plans, the community right to buy and lotting.
Land Management Plans
Section 1 of the Bill requires “that there is a publicly available land management plan in relation to the land”. This applies to all landholdings exceeding 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) in area. Land management plans (LMPs) can be compared to published corporate objectives or mission statements, setting out future goals and policy. The Scottish Government hopes that LMPs will enable stronger links between the day-to-day management activities of land and the long-term strategic objectives for a landholding, thus making passive landownership difficult. LMPs, however, are not entirely new. The forestry sector in Scotland has been burdened with a similar system for some time, as they are required to have an ‘issues log’, which has comparative elements to an LMP. The ‘issues log’ publishes concerns raised by stakeholders and how those engaged in forestry work will address them. Although there are similarities to this system, the Bill represents a significant expansion of the obligation.
Community Engagement Regulations will set out the information to be included in a LMP. It must include information on four key points:
Details of how the ownership of the land is structured.
The long-term objectives for managing the land, including any potential sale.
Details of how the owner complies with the obligations in the Community Engagement Regulations, the Scottish Outdoor Access Code and the Code of Practice on Deer Management.
Details of how the owner manages the land in a way that contributes towards achieving the Scottish Government’s net zero emissions target, adapting to climate change and increasing or sustaining biodiversity.
There is significant support for LMPs with 77% of those involved in the public consultation agreeing that there should be a duty on landholders to demonstrate their plans for land management. These plans could help shape a future vision of Scottish land use that prioritises the environment, transparency, and local communities. At their best, LMPs will provide a clear format for affected landholders to demonstrate their compliance. They may also assist long-term decision-making by landholders and encourage more consideration about the use of the land. Moreover, they may improve access to information about land for local communities, investors and developers.
Landholders will have five years to produce an updated version starting from the date the first land management plan was made available.
LMPs and their impact remain unclear, with important questions remaining unanswered. For example, as mentioned, section 1 of the Bill requires landholders to illustrate how they will adapt to climate change and sustain biodiversity on their land. The extent of a landholder’s obligations under these provisions is unclear. For example, would there be a statutory obligation on affected landholders to incorporate climate change measures? Moreover, breaches may result in fines of up to £40,000, and it is unclear how much information and to what depth will be required. We may only know the answer to these questions when the decision is taken to issue a fine for the first time. Concerns have also been raised that landholders may be required to disclose potentially confidential or commercially sensitive information, especially regarding the sale of the land.
