'Detached' landowners are an outdated stereotype - we don't need the Scottish Government as estate agents

For those of us who work and live on Scotland’s rural estates, the ebb and flow of land reform is something that we’ve been well used to since the Scottish Parliament was re-established in 1999.

Two land reform acts were passed in just over 15 years and now, the parliamentary journey for a third law at Holyrood has back kicked into gear this week.

With this legislation, however, comes the often fractious and well-worn debate about what landowners represent as well as claims about what they do or fail to do – little of which is based on the reality of rural Scotland.

Today in Perth, REVIVE – a coalition of groups that originally campaigned for grouse moor reform – have shifted their focus and organised a conference calling for an acceleration of land reform.

Earlier this week, in The Scotsman, wild and spurious claims were made by REVIVE about those who own and run estates. The bizarre charge sheet of allegations included landowners supposedly destroying peatlands, creating ‘circles of destruction’ on landholdings and causing ‘environmental devastation’ through country sports.

As someone who has been involved in managing a large rural estate for many years, this polarising rhetoric is not new. Estates, their owners and management are well used to being written off as lairds or toffs in tweed - and often being bluntly told that the Highland Clearances somehow requires to be righted through land reform. While these expressions may play well with activists, the image they attempt to portray bears little reality to how estates operate in the 21st century.

Indeed, a recent report by land business organisation Scottish Land & Estates found that estates were generating £2.4 billion GVA/year for the Scottish economy and supporting around 57,300 jobs – one in ten rural jobs – whilst providing homes for 13,000 families and land for 14,000 rural enterprises. The research also found that estates attracted an estimated 5.4 million Scottish residents annually to enjoy the natural environment.

In most sectors, such a substantial economic and social contribution would be celebrated as a success story. Scottish estates are proud of their contributions, which include the creation of new woodland and forestry, supporting small and medium local businesses, restoring peatland, developing green energy, and promoting tourism and leisure as well as wildlife and habitat conservation.

And clearly, given the number of visitors, Scottish estates are widely appreciated by the public, who enjoy the facilities and events on offer.

In the case of our own estate business, Moray Estates, we have been pioneering the birth of Tornagrain, a new town seven miles to the east of Inverness.

Tornagrain, a new town seven miles to the east of Inverness, has been created by Moray Estates | Moray Estates

The next 50 years will see the creation of a sustainable community comprising 5,000 homes, commercial, employment and community facilities. Tornagrain incorporates all the design, placemaking and walkable neighbourhood principles contained in NPF4.

Rather ironically, Tornagrain, like Chapelton, the other exemplar of this type near Aberdeen, is being delivered by a long-term traditional landowner because we’ve both been prepared to take a long-term commercial view and dedicate ourselves to creating well-designed communities. There’s little evidence of other types of property owner showing this patience and determination.

Andrew Howard is the managing director at Moray Estates | Contributed

The drive for land reform by activists – or by the Scottish Government – also appears to fly in the face of public opinion, which is, at best, lukewarm towards it being a priority. A study of public attitudes towards land reform carried out on behalf of the Scottish Government by Ipsos MORI Scotland in 2021 found 73 per cent of respondents said they knew ‘not very much’ or ‘nothing at all’ about Scottish Government’s plans for land reform. 

A mere 17 per cent of respondents suggested inequality in land ownership as being the biggest challenge for the future of Scotland’s land – significantly behind climate change.  There was also concern expressed that communities might lack the skills and resources to take over and run assets and a desire expressed for the costs and benefits of Community Right to Buy purchases to be assessed.

Why, then, is the Scottish Government returning to land reform for the third time in little over 25 years? It is a question many rural businesses would like to know.

The new bizarre suite of proposals includes measures for government to lot estates if they come up for sale – effectively introducing a role for government as an estate agent. 

New powers are proposed to enforce community engagement on landowners with single or composite holdings in excess of 3,000 hectares, or 1,000 hectares where the holdings constitute more than 25 per cent of an inhabited island and the Bill also puts forward the creation of a Land and Communities Commissioner within the Scottish Land Commission. There would be the power to enforce the provisions on community engagement on landowners - a process government suggests will cost upwards of £20,000 per estate to carry out.

Whilst these may seem relatively minor on the face of it, it will result in both government interference in property rights as well as a need for significant sums of money to be spent by both estates and the public purse on dealing with yet more red tape.

Calls for more radical change pressure lawmakers to go further and many landowners understand the motives behind this push, recognising that some hold deep-seated views against large-scale land ownership.

However, the outdated stereotype of a detached, unengaged landowner does not reflect today’s reality. In fact, most landowners are already fully committed to improving their communities and contributing positively – and do not need the Scottish Government acting as an estate agent in order to do that.

If the push for radical reform overshadows practical considerations, the result could be flawed legislation that is challenged in court. This outcome benefits no one.

Investment in rural Scotland is already feeling the effects of this uncertain climate, which also won’t have been aided by recent UK government Budget decisions. There have already been murmurings of natural capital investment, essential for meeting Scottish Government targets, being paused due to the ambiguity surrounding land reform and “investment paralysis” is something rural Scotland cannot afford.

We support change that benefits everyone – but little is to be achieved by accepting the mischaracterisation of estates by radical activists. We believe private, public and community ownership are essential to improving rural Scotland, and while landowners don’t always get everything right, we are committed partners in this vision. Estates do and will continue to play their part in achieving a vision of a stronger, more vibrant rural Scotland. Imagine what we could achieve if we all worked together toward this common goal.

- Andrew Howard is the managing director at Moray Estates