There is no legal definition of a rural estate, but one source1 estimates that about 1,125 privately owned rural landownerships in Scotland cover about 57% of Scotlandīs rural land, or 4.1 million hectares (Mha). Other landholders include public bodies (eg Forestry & Land Scotland, Crown Estate Scotland, Scottish Water) owning 12.6% of rural land, communities such as the Knoydart and Assynt Foundations (3.1%), and environmental organisations such as the National Trust for Scotland, the John Muir Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2.5%). The rest of rural Scotland is owned by farmers and others.
Of the private estates, 87 are "large" (over 10,000ha) and own about 1.7Mha in total, while 667 are between 1,000 and 10,000 ha in area and own 2.2 Mha. Of the total area, nearly 2 Mha or almost half is hill ground, and 0.3 Mha (8%) is commercial forestry, the rest being arable, improved grazing, etc. Activities carried out include agriculture, tourism, forestry, residential property, sport and recreation (stalking, shooting, fishing, etc), and - a recent and growing trend - renewable energy generation. Many of these are also present on non-private estates, though of course in different proportions depending on estate assets and owner aims.
Given the economic, environmental and social importance of estate land ownership in Scotland, it is worth keeping an eye on developments amongst them, whether market-oriented, policy-driven, or otherwise.
The Scottish Land Commission's 2024 Rural Land Market data Report2, based on official Registers of Scotland (RoS) data, reveals that just 0.5% of Scotlandīs rural land changed ownership in 2023, reflecting a slowdown in sales activity compared to previous years. The reduction in transactions and the smaller areas of land sold were primarily driven by a sharp decline in forestry land sales, while sales of "estates" (as noted above, not an official designation) and farms remained at roughly their levels in the three previous years. Only 26 sales over the four years 2020-2023 were larger than 1,000 hectares, the key threshold for point-of-sale intervention proposed in the Land Reform Bill.
North East Scotland exhibited a relatively high density of sales in 2023 - but mostly farmland, as in past years. There were only 2 identified estate sales in the region in 2023, but these were fairly large (mean size 1649 ha), with a sale price of just over £10 million. This may have been due to two "interesting findings" identified by SRUC for Scotland as a whole: investments in natural capital, and the use of RoS-registered "values" for off-market sales where no monetary price is provided.
According to a parallel report3, based on land agents interviewed between November 2023 and February 2024 about market performance in 2023, "it appears that the pattern of landownership continues to become more concentrated, as farmland is either being consolidated by those looking to expand their businesses or (particularly in the case of upland farms) sold to a small number of forestry companies or natural capital investors".
In spring 2024, the land market in Scotland was expected to recover somewhat as the economy emerged from recession, and policy drivers such as carbon credits remained strong. However, more recently, stuttering economic growth, limited government budgets and policy uncertainties (eg land reform, farm subsidies) have restrained enthusiasm.
The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill "aims to reform the law around large landholdings and certain types of leases of land" : a good overview is provided by the Scottish Parliamentīs SPICe website. Over the last year, the Scottish Parliamentīs Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee invited views on the Bill's general principles, and its Stage 1 report in March 2025 called for "significant amendments". In Stage 2, the Committee will consider proposals by the Scottish Government and MSPs, followed by the full Parliament carrying out Stage 3.
The Scottish Land Commission has recommended some changes to the Bill, including:
Andy Wightman has submitted evidence4 to the Committee including his view that "If this legislation is passed by Parliament, it will have little impact beyond creating new complexities, friction and conflict in the land market for no evident gain. The proposals on compulsory management plans and community engagement together with modest modernisation of agricultural tenancies are the only useful parts of the Bill".
With SLE and JMT agreeing with much of these views (though of course not the former over the principle of focussing on "large" estates, and concerned about the cost and complexity of preparing Land Management Plans), and the Scottish Government expressing willingness to "work with Parliament" in Stage 2, it seems likely that the Bill will be amended to take on board these simplifying suggestions. Whether and how it will affect future land market transactions - eg by direct intervention in particular cases, or more widely through the influence of greater transparency - remains unclear!
It has always been an aim of the land reform campaign to increase the ownership of Scottish land by "communities", but progress has slowed in recent years. From 56,000 ha in 2000, land in community ownership (some in non-rural areas) rose rapidly to about 160,000ha in 2007, but then more gradually to about 200,00ha in 2020, since when it has only risen slowly to 208,597ha, owned by 533 community organisations. Of this area, nearly three quarters is in the Western isles, where some 72% of the land is now community owned.
With an annual budget of £10 million, the Scottish Land Fund offers grants of up to £1 million to help communities take ownership of land and buildings, as well as practical support to develop their aspirations into viable projects. In recent years, most of its awards have been for buildings (or land for buildings), but £1 million was awarded in 2020 to Morvern Community Woodlands for the Killundine Estate in Lochaber, and £1.85 million was awarded in 2020-22 to the Langholm Initiative in Dumfries and Galloway for a nature reserve and facilities on Tarras Water and Holm Hill Estate. Except for some woodland at Braemar, no awards appear to have been made for upper Deeside. In 2023, the Community Land Accelerator project was started by Crown Estate Scotland and the Scottish Land Commission to facilitate community buyouts through interim CES purchase while a local organisation raises funds.
Community Land Scotland is currently aiming for a trebling of community ownership to 10% by 2030, to be achieved by:
1. BiGGAR Economics (2023) The Contribution of Rural Estates to Scotland's Wellbeing Economy, Scottish Landscapes and Estates
2. Scottish Land Commission Rural Land Market Data Report 2024 by SRUC.
3. Merrell, I, Wheatley, H, Pate, L, Glendinning, J, nelson, B and MacKessack-Leitch, J (2024) Rural Land Market Insights Report 2024, commissioned by the Scottish Land Commission.
4. andywightman.scot/2024/05/land-reform-scotland-bill-6-stage-1-response/
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