Small landholdings modernisation: consultation analysis

Introduction

This report outlines the results of a Small Landholdings Modernisation Consultation held October 2022-January 2023. The consultation aimed to gather views on proposals to modernise and update small landholdings legislation.

The Scottish Government proposed a set of legislative reform measures relating to four parts of current small landholdings legislation: 1. Right to buy; 2. Diversification; 3. Assignation and succession and 4. Access to an umbrella body.

The consultation included 24 questions. In total, we received 41 responses to the online consultation, 30 from individuals (73%) and 11 from organisations (27%). This report outlines the results of the consultation by each topic.

This report outlines the results of the Small Landholdings Modernisation Consultation held between October 2022 and January 2023 which aimed to gather views on proposals to modernise and update small landholdings legislation.

The Scottish Government outlined a series of proposals to explore how best to modernise and update small landholdings legislation, to achieve three broader aims: to give small landholders equality of opportunity in line with tenant farmers and crofters; to help small landholders to play their part in tackling the climate and biodiversity crises; and to enable small landholdings to play a role in supporting local rural communities and population sustainability.

1. Small landholdings

Small landholdings are a form of tenanted land located across Scotland, including Arran, Bute, Moray, and parts of the Highlands, with the largest number on Arran. Concentrations of small landholdings remain in Ayrshire, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Dumfriesshire, the Scottish Borders and east central Scotland. Small landholdings are an important part of Scotland’s agricultural and national heritage.

Following World War I, the UK Government brought forward legislation in Scotland to support the settlement of people on the land, particularly war veterans from World War I and any previous wars.

The Scottish Agricultural Census (June 2021) indicated that there are approximately 59 small landholders in Scotland. Their small landholdings cover 5,360 acres (2,168 hectares) with over two-thirds of Small Landholding Act tenancies being less than 50 acres (approx 20 hectares).

2. Legislative context

The last Small Landholding Act was in 1931 and since then there has been no primary legislation for this form of land tenure. The legislation governing tenant farming (agricultural holdings), crofting and land tenure has not brought forward provisions to keep small landholdings in step with other forms of land tenure.

As a result, small landholdings have fallen behind in comparison to the modernisation of crofting and tenant farming, which has resulted in small landholders lacking comparable rights to the other forms of land tenure. The legal framework for small landholdings is still dealt with under Landholding Acts which have not been updated for over 80 years. These Acts are set out in Annex 1.

The Scottish Government gave a legal commitment to reviewing small landholding legislation in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016, and between October and November 2016, the Scottish Government consulted on the Review of Legislation Governing Small Landholdings. The Programme for Government 2021-2022 followed with a commitment to taking the next step to begin to modernise small landholdings legislation. In August 2021, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party Parliamentary Group signed the Bute House Agreement.

In this agreement they committed to exploring providing small landholders with the same pre-emptive right to buy as crofters and 1991 Act tenant farmers, and the

treatment of the land under their houses. The proposals set out in this document have been informed by the 2016 consultation response and the commitments outlined above. They aim to bring greater policy coherence between small landholders and other forms of land tenure.

3. Consultation proposals

The Scottish Government has proposed a set of legislative reform measures relating to the following parts of small landholdings legislation:

1. Right to buy

2. Diversification

3. Assignation and succession

4. Access to an umbrella body

This is to ensure that small landholders have comparable rights with other types of land tenure, and the opportunity to contribute to wider objectives including addressing the climate and biodiversity crises. By modernising small landholdings legislation, we aim to support Scotland’s innovative small scale producers and enable them to play a role in delivering our vision for Scottish Agriculture.

Responses to this consultation will help to:

• allow small landholders to take the right business decisions for them;
• help them to play their part in urgently tackling the climate and biodiversity crises; and
• help Scotland to reach Net Zero by 2045.

These proposals aim to enable small landholdings to continue to play a role in supporting local rural communities by encouraging population retention and enabling the next generation of small landholders to remain within their community.

4. Consultation responses

The Small landholdings: Modernisation consultation was open from 22 October 2022 to 14 January 2023, and responses could be submitted on Citizen Space, by email or post. Small landholders and landlords were both able to respond.

A consultation event was held on the Isle of Arran on 21 November 2023, with 18 attendees. Feedback provided during this event has been incorporated in the analysis of responses to each proposal where relevant.

In total, we received 41 responses to the online consultation, 30 of which were from individuals (73%) and 11 of which were from organisations (27%) (see Table 1).

5. Consultation analysis

The consultation included 24 questions (see Annex 2), with the majority including a closed question and an opportunity for the respondent to provide reasons for their answer. The results for the first part of each question are presented as figures alongside a summary of the reasons given by respondents in written responses.

The consultation responses were added to a coding framework,^[2] checked for any duplicate responses, and grouped by respondent type (agree, disagree, neither). The open responses were then coded, sub-coded and analysed, and the coding framework was tested to ensure consistency of analysis.

A separate coding framework was developed for each question to summarise the key themes and sub-themes raised in respondents’ answers. An example of this can be found in Annex 3. There were over-arching issues which occurred repeatedly in relation to a number of questions, and these were included too.

This report outlines the responses to each question by topic, identifying the main themes, reasons and suggestions given by respondents in each group. A small number of quotes are included for illustration purposes. It should be noted that consultation exercises are self-selecting in nature, as people choose to respond, rather than being included as part of a considered sampling strategy. As such, the findings in this report do not reflect the weight or range of views within the population as a whole. Any figures quoted give us an indication of what respondents thought, but should not be taken to represent the views of the population as a whole. Respondents’ comments and views may be based on evidence or on their opinions or perceptions of what is true.