Small landholdings modernisation: consultation

Introduction

Small landholdings are a form of tenanted land located across Scotland, outside of the Crofting Counties. Some lie in the designated crofting areas: Arran, Bute, Moray, and parts of the Highlands, with the largest number, between 15-18 on Arran. Concentrations of small landholdings remain in Ayrshire, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Dumfriesshire, the Scottish Borders and east central Scotland. 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 WWI and any previous wars.

The Scottish Agricultural Census results from June 2021 show that there are approximately 59 small landholders who have identified themselves in Scotland and they cover 5,360 acres (2,168 hectares) with over two-thirds of Small Landholding Act tenancies being less than 50 acres (approx 20 hectares).  

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 they have fallen behind the modernisation of crofting and tenant farming, which has resulted in small landholders lacking comparable rights to the other forms of land tenure. As a result 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 below:

• Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886 (the “1886 Act”)
• Crofters Common Grazings Regulation Act 1891 (the “1891 Act”)
• Congested Districts (Scotland) Act 1897 (the “1897 Act”)
• Crofters Common Grazings Regulation Act 1908 (the “1908 Act”)
• Small Landholders (Scotland) Act 1911 (the “1911 Act”)
• Small Holdings Colonies Acts of 1916 (the “1916 Act”)
• Small Holdings Colonies (Amendment) Act of 1918 (the “1918 Act”)
• Land Settlement (Scotland) Act 1919 (the “1919 Act”)
• Small Landholders and Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1931 (the “1931 Act”)

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 on our commitment to taking the next step and 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 to provide 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 responses and the Scottish Government commitments outlined above. They aim to bring greater policy coherence between small landholders and other forms of land tenure.