New proposals launched to stop greedy companies hoarding town centre land
Scottish Greens are calling on MSPs to reduce the amount of vacant and derelict land by introducing a new tax on landowners who hoard undeveloped sites.
The proposals, which will be tabled as an amendment to the Land Reform Bill, would crack down on the scandal of greedy individuals and companies buying up land that could be used for homes or businesses, but allowing it to remain derelict for years or even decades.
This practice, known as ‘landbanking’, has often been used by supermarkets and other businesses who want to block their competitors from setting up nearby.
Historically, when land or a building became unused, the owner would get a reduction on their business rates, often for years and often 100%. This gave site owners no incentive to bring their land or properties back into productive use - instead choosing to sit on it while paying nothing and waiting for the land value to go up, or simply blocking potential competitors from buying and developing the site.
The Scottish Greens proposals would give councils the power to apply an extra charge on derelict sites instead, raising money for local services and pushing the owners to either use or sell the land.
Greer’s derelict land charge is based on recommendations from the Scottish Government-commissioned Barclay Review into non-domestic tax rates.
Commenting ahead of the vote, Ross said:
“Right now, greedy companies and wealthy individuals across Scotland are sitting on huge amounts of derelict and vacant land, treating it as their personal cash cow and preventing it from being used in ways that would support local economies.
“There are more than 9,000 hectares of vacant or derelict land across Scotland. We can all think of the examples in our own communities, the eyesore sites dragging down the whole area.
“Whole swathes of our towns, city centres and countryside are held to ransom by landowners far more interested in maximising their own profits than creating thriving high streets and communities.
“MSPs can fix this by backing our Green plans, based on expert recommendations, to bring abandoned and neglected land back into community. We will force greedy landowners to pay up, or sell up.“This will free up more land for affordable housing, supporting community regeneration and taking power back from the super-rich who hoard far too much of this country.”