Members' Business — S6M-09174 Mercedes Villalba: Deconcentrating Land Ownership

That the Parliament understands that, in 2013, just 432 landowners owned 50% of all Scotland’s privately-owned rural land; notes that feudal tenure in Scotland was only formally abolished through the Abolition of Feudal Tenure (Scotland) Act 2000; supports the expansion to community rights to buy under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015; understands that continuing concentration of ownership remains a significant barrier to communities exercising their rights; considers that land represents a huge reserve of unearned wealth in Scotland, including in the North East Scotland region; notes the view that there is a need for stronger action to disrupt the concentration of land ownership in Scotland; further notes the view that a clearly defined, legally enforced, public interest test is needed to ensure that land holdings work for the benefit of the people of Scotland, and notes the calls for Scotland’s land to be owned by, and managed for the benefit of, Scotland’s communities.