BOLD LAND REFORM REPORT IS TEST OF SCOTTISH GOV AMBITION
Green MSPs are welcoming a detailed report into land reform that calls for a bold range of legal and tax changes, as well as new public bodies, to diversify land ownership in Scotland.
Today's final report from the independent Land Reform Review Group sets out 62 recommendations for the Scottish Government, including:
- an upper limit on the total amount of land in Scotland that can be held by a private land owner
- Land Value Taxation should be given serious consideration; there should be a detailed study of the scope and practicalities of introducing LVT.
- ending exemption of agriculture, forestry and other land based businesses from non-domestic rates.
- the Government should develop a National Land Policy for Scotland
- Local Authorities should have the right to exercise a Compulsory Sale Order over an area of vacant or derelict land
- longer and more secure tenancies in the private rented sector
- the establishment of a Housing Land Corporation to acquire land for housebuilding
Patrick Harvie, Green MSP said:
“The Scottish Government’s response to this report will be a test of their ambition for a fairer Scotland. This is a comprehensive piece of work with many new ideas for addressing the concentration of wealth and land in our country. The Minister asked for this review to be radical and now he must show this was not just posturing by accepting the need for the big tax changes recommended in the report.
“The Scottish Greens have been advocating Land Value Tax consistently, given its many advantages in both urban and rural Scotland. Only this month, in a Green parliamentary debate both the SNP and Labour backed our call for redistributive wealth taxes. LVT is an obvious step to start putting this into practice.”
The report can be read in full here