Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2025

Prospective

2 Community right to buy: registration of interest in large land holding S

(1) The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 is modified as follows.

(2) In section 39 (procedure for late applications), for subsection (1) substitute—

“(1) This section (other than subsections (4A) and (5)) applies in relation to an application to register a community interest in land if—

(a) it satisfies—

(i) the conditions mentioned in subsection (1A), or

(ii) the condition mentioned in subsection (1B), and

(b) it is not an application to which section 39ZA applies.”.

(3) After section 39 insert—

“39ZA Procedure for application invited under section 46G

(1) This section applies in relation to an application to register a community interest in land if it—

(a) is made by a community body that Ministers invited to make an application in accordance with section 46G,

(b) relates to the land in respect of which Ministers invited the community body to make an application,

(c) is made within the period that the invitation explained the application had to be made within for it to be considered in accordance with this section, and

(d) is the only application that the community body has made within the period in relation to the land.

(2) Where this section applies in relation to an application, the procedure for registering community interests in land set out in section 37 is, for the purposes of the application, subject to the following modifications—

(a) paragraph (b) of subsection (9) does not apply, and

(b) in subsection (17), for “63” there is substituted “30”.

(3) Where this section applies in relation to an application, Ministers may not decide that a community interest is to be entered in the register unless they are (additionally to the matters as to which they are to be satisfied under section 38) satisfied—

(a) that the level of support within the community for such registration is significantly greater than that which Ministers would, by virtue of subsection (2) of section 38, have considered sufficient for the purposes of subsection (1)(d) of that section, and

(b) that the factors bearing on whether it is or is not in the public interest that the community interest be registered are strongly indicative that it is.

(4) Where a community interest in land is registered in pursuance of an application in relation to which this section applies—

(a) the owner of the land is, for the purposes of this Part of this Act (other than section 59(4)), deemed to have, on the date on which that interest is so registered, given notice under section 48(1) that a transfer is proposed,

(b) section 49 does not apply in so far as it relates to that interest,

(c) for the purposes of sections 55(2) and (4), 56(3), 59(1), 60A(1) and 65(1)(a), the community body is deemed to have sent the confirmation which Ministers would, had section 49 applied, have required to seek under subsection (2)(a) of that section on the date on which the interest is registered.”.

(4) After section 46 insert—

“Chapter 2A S Extended opportunity to register interest in relation to large land holding

Record of persons who wish to be notified of possible transfers S

46A Ministers to keep record of persons to notify of possible land transfers

(1) Ministers are to keep a list of the contact details of persons who wish to be notified under section 46D(2)(b) about any possible transfer of land to which section 46L applies in a particular area.

(2) A person’s details are to be added to, changed on, and removed from, the list at the person’s request.

(3) The reference in subsection (2) to a person’s details includes the specification of the area in relation to which the person wishes to be notified of possible transfers of land.

(4) Ministers must issue guidance in relation to the making of a request under subsection (2).

(5) Ministers must make publicly available the latest version of any guidance issued under subsection (4) as soon as practicable after issuing it.

Prohibitions on transfer to extend opportunity for registering interest S

46B Prohibition on transfer to allow time for interest to be registered

(1) The owner of land to which section 46L applies, and any creditor in a standard security having a right to sell the land, is prohibited from—

(a) transferring the land, or

(b) taking any action with a view to a transfer of the land,

until Ministers give notice under section 46E that the prohibition under this section is lifted (but see section 46H(2)).

(2) A notice under section 46E lifts the prohibition under subsection (1) until—

(a) the land is transferred, or

(b) if the land is not transferred within the period of 2 years beginning with the day that the notice is sent, the expiry of that period.

46C Request by owner, or creditor, to lift prohibition under section 46B

(1) An owner of land, or a creditor in a standard security with the right to sell land, may make a request to Ministers to lift the prohibition under section 46B(1) so that the land can be transferred.

(2) A request under subsection (1) is to be made by notice in the prescribed manner.

46D Procedure following receipt of notice under section 46C or 48

(1) Having received notification under section 46C or 48 of an intention to transfer land to which section 46L applies, Ministers are to publicise—

(a) that the owner or, as the case may be, the creditor intends to transfer the land, and

(b) how a community body can register an interest in some or all of the land under Chapter 2.

(2) In order to comply with their duty under subsection (1), Ministers must—

(a) arrange for prescribed information about the possible transfer of the land to be made publicly available on a website,

(b) send prescribed information about the possible transfer of the land to every—

(i) person whose contact details they hold on the list kept under section 46A so that the person can be notified about any possible transfer of land in an area that (wholly or partly) subsumes or is subsumed by the area of the land,

(ii) community council whose area includes the land,

(iii) local authority whose area includes the land,

(iv) National Park authority whose area includes the land.

(3) In this section, “local authority” means a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.

46E Notice that prohibition under section 46B is lifted

(1) Ministers are to give notice to a person who notified them under section 46C or 48 of an intention to transfer land that the prohibition on transferring the land under section 46B(1) is lifted once the period of 30 days beginning with the day that Ministers fulfilled their duty under section 46D to publicise the possible transfer of the land has expired.

(2) If, when that period expires, Ministers are considering whether to impose a prohibition on the transfer of the land under section 46F(1), they are not to give notice under subsection (1) until they have decided whether they are or are not required to impose such a prohibition.

(3) If Ministers decide that they are required to impose a prohibition on the transfer of the land under section 46F, they must not give notice under subsection (1) before giving notice under section 46F(2) intimating the imposition of that prohibition.

(4) The giving of notice under subsection (1) is not to be delayed by virtue of subsection (2) beyond the period of 60 days beginning with the day that Ministers fulfilled their duty under section 46D to publicise the possible transfer of the land.

(5) Any failure to comply with the time limit specified in subsection (4) does not affect the validity of anything done under this section.

46F Further prohibition on transfer to allow for invited application to register an interest

(1) In the circumstances mentioned in subsection (3), Ministers are to prohibit the owner of land, and any creditor in a standard security over an interest in the land, from—

(a) transferring the land, or

(b) taking any action with a view to a transfer of the land,

until the expiry of the period mentioned in subsection (2)(b).

(2) A prohibition on a person under subsection (1)—

(a) is imposed when Ministers give notice intimating that it is imposed, and

(b) expires at the end of the period of 70 days beginning with the day it is imposed.

(3) The circumstances referred to in subsection (1) are that—

(a) Ministers have publicised the possible transfer of the land, or a larger area of land of which it forms part, in accordance with section 46D,

(b) a person has submitted to Ministers a note, containing prescribed information, expressing an intention on the part of the person, or another person, to register a community interest in the land (“note of intention to register”),

(c) Ministers receive the note of intention to register within the period of 30 days beginning with the day that they sent information about the possible transfer in accordance with section 46D(2)(b),

(d) Ministers are satisfied that—

(i) before any prohibition they impose under subsection (1) in respect of the land would have expired, it is likely that an application to register a community interest in the land would be made by the person on the part of whom the note of intention to register expresses an intention to register a community interest, and

(ii) there is a reasonable prospect of that application resulting in a community interest in the land being registered.

(4) For the purpose of subsection (3)—

(a) the person on the part of whom a note of intention to register expresses an intention to register a community interest in land need not be a legal person at the time the note is submitted,

(b) where Ministers sent the information mentioned in subsection (3)(c) on different days, the reference to the information being sent is to its being sent on the last of those days.

46G Invitation to apply to register an interest

(1) Where, following receipt of a note of intention to register, Ministers impose a prohibition under section 46F(1), they must also send a notice to the person who submitted the note of intention to register that—

(a) invites the person said in the note to have an intention to register a community interest in land to make an application under section 37 in relation to the land, and

(b) explains that if the person makes the application before the expiry of the period of the prohibition, the application will be considered in accordance with section 39ZA.

(2) In this section, “note of intention to register” has the meaning given by section 46F(3)(b).

46H Effect of, and exceptions to, prohibition of transfer under section 46B or 46F

(1) A transfer of land is of no effect if it is in breach of—

(a) section 46B(1), or

(b) a prohibition imposed under section 46F(1).

(2) Section 46B(1) and a prohibition imposed under section 46F(1) do not apply in relation to—

(a) excluded land within the meaning of section 33(1),

(b) a transfer to which subsection (1) of section 40 does not apply by virtue of subsection (4) of that section, or

(c) a transfer of a kind exempted by section 46M(2).

(3) Action is taken with a view to a transfer of land for the purposes of sections 46B and 46F if it would be regarded as having been taken for the purpose of section 40.

46I Lifting prohibitions in exceptional circumstances

(1) Ministers may disapply the prohibition under section 46B(1), or a prohibition imposed under section 46F(1), in relation to any area of land if they are satisfied that—

(a) the owner of the land (or any part of it) wants to transfer it in order to alleviate, or avoid, financial hardship, and

(b) having to wait for the prohibition to be lifted in accordance with section 46E or, as the case may be, 46F(2)(b) is likely to cause, or worsen, financial hardship for the owner.

(2) Ministers may disapply a prohibition in relation to land by virtue of subsection (1) only if a request to do so is made—

(a) by the owner of the land, and

(b) in the prescribed manner.

(3) The disapplication of a prohibition in relation to land by virtue of subsection (1)—

(a) begins when the owner of the land receives a notice from Ministers intimating that it is disapplied, and

(b) ends on a date specified in the notice.

Anti-avoidance S

46J Requirement for declaration of compliance with Chapter

(1) Where land to which section 46L applies is being transferred, the transferor is to incorporate in the deed giving effect to the transfer a declaration in prescribed form confirming that the transfer is not in contravention of any prohibition under this Chapter.

(2) A declaration under subsection (1) is not required if a declaration under section 46K is required in relation to the land being transferred.

46K Requirement to explain exemption to prohibition in transfer deed

Where land is being transferred and that would be in breach of a prohibition but for section 46H(2)(b), the transferor is to incorporate in the deed giving effect to the transfer a declaration—

(a) specifying which provision of subsection (4) of section 40 operates so as to make the transfer one to which subsection (1) of that section does not apply, and

(b) where the provision so specified is paragraph (a), (e) or (h) of that subsection, stating that the transfer does not form part of a scheme or arrangement, and is not one of a series, the main purpose or effect, or one of the main purposes or effects, of which is the avoidance of the requirements or consequences of this Part of this Act.

Land affected by the prohibitions S

46L Land affected by the prohibitions

(1) This section applies to land that is, or forms part of, a large holding of land.

(2) In subsection (1), a “large holding of land” means—

(a) a single holding, or

(b) a composite holding,

that exceeds 1,000 hectares in area.

(3) For the purposes of this section—

(a) a single holding is the whole of a contiguous area of land in the ownership of one person or set of persons,

(b) two or more single holdings form a composite holding if the conditions in subsection (4) are met.

(4) The conditions referred to in subsection (3)(b) are that—

(a) each of the single holdings in question is contiguous with at least one of the others, and

(b) the owner of one single holding (“holding A”)—

(i) is an owner, or connected to the owner, of another single holding (“holding B”) with which holding A is contiguous, and

(ii) where there are more than two single holdings, is also the owner of, or connected to the owner of, every other single holding.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (3)(a), an area of land is to be treated as being contiguous with another if any part of the area is within 250 metres of any part of the other.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (4)—

(a) a holding is contiguous with another if a boundary of the holding is (wholly or partly) contiguous with a boundary of the other,

(b) a boundary of a holding is to be treated as being contiguous with a boundary of another if any part of the boundary is within 250 metres of the other,

(c) references to the owner of a holding, in a case where the holding is owned by more than one person (whether jointly or in common), are to be read as references to an owner of the holding,

(d) whether a person is connected to another is to be determined in accordance with schedule 1A.

(7) In this section, “land” includes—

(a) the foreshore, that is to say, the land between the high and low water marks of ordinary spring tides, and

(b) other land covered with water except the seabed.

Modification of operation of Chapter 2A by regulations S

46M Powers to modify Chapter and schedule 1A, etc.

(1) Ministers may by regulations modify this Chapter and schedule 1A so as to change (or clarify)—

(a) the period specified in section 46F(2)(b),

(b) the land to which section 46L applies.

(2) Ministers may by regulations—

(a) specify transfers of land to which section 46B(1) and a prohibition imposed under section 46F(1) do not apply, and

(b) in consequence of provision made by paragraph (a), modify sections 46J and 46K.

(3) Ministers must, before laying a draft of any regulations under this section, consult such persons as they consider appropriate.”.

Commencement Information

I1 S. 2 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 47(2)