Scottish Land Commission to review community right to buy mechanisms

The Scottish Land Commission is reviewing the effectiveness of current community right to buy mechanisms.

The Land Commission has issued a notice on Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) asking for contractors to submit tenders to assess the effectiveness of community right to buy mechanisms and to recommend what steps could be taken to enable and encourage more community ownership across Scotland.

The ability of communities to buy the land on which they live and work has long been central to the land reform agenda in Scotland. With more than 562,000 acres of land (2.9% of the total land area of Scotland) under community ownership, many parts of Scotland are already demonstrating the value that this form of ownership can bring.  Recent legislation also extends the option to include urban land, buildings and communities.

Chair of the Scottish Land Commission, Andrew Thin, said:

“The Scottish Land Commission is looking at community right to buy mechanisms to see how it can be made easier for more communities to take on ownership of land and buildings in both a rural and urban context.

“This work will involve reviewing the legal mechanisms that exist to facilitate community ownership and also identify opportunities to encourage more community ownership through a change of culture so that community ownership becomes a more normal option for communities across Scotland.

“The final report, which is due to be submitted to the Commission in August 2018, will form the basis of recommendations that will be made to Scottish Ministers and an action plan of how we can work with partner organisations to encourage more community ownership and make more of Scotland’s land.”

Completed quotes must be submitted via PCS by 12:00 noon on the 9 March 2018.