Consultation opens on Scottish land registry

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on proposals for a register showing who controls Scotland’s land.

Part of efforts to improve the transparency of land ownership, the register will provide information on controlling interests in land owners and tenants, including those from outside the UK.

Views are being sought on:

Cabinet secretary for land reform, Roseanna Cunningham, said: “Improving transparency of land ownership in Scotland goes to the very heart of progressing land reform in Scotland.

“This consultation continues our work to implement the Land Reform Act and is the next step in taking forward these regulations and will help us deal with policy, practical and legal dimensions in this complex and technical area.

“We want the register to result in greater transparency in relation to the individuals who control landowners and tenants in Scotland, but we also want to ensure that the requirements that we develop are proportionate and not unduly onerous on those who transact with land in Scotland.

“We also want to ensure that our proposals can apply to parties from outside the United Kingdom in order to deliver the transparency about controlling interests in land owners and tenants that the Scottish Government, and indeed the whole of the Scottish Parliament, wants to see.”